Final Fantasy: Reality
by Azuril Noir Raine
Summary: this doesn't belong here, i know it. but, i wanna try. take it down if you don't like it.
1. author's notes

ANR: ok, ok, ok! I openly say it, before anyone gets all up in my face about it! I copied a lot (I mean heavily so) from Final Fantasy VII! But, this damned idea started out as a freak dream I had, then it ate away at my brain, so, in order to stop it from doing so, I am writing it and posting it. I hope I do not get flames (which I will openly laugh at, be warned) or sued or yelled at by anyone who might find this story and know me directly, or sued, or beaten up, and did I mentioned sued?

BD: why'd you change the stuff? I thought you liked the whole 'Shinra and Sephiroth must be pounded into the ground' idea.

ANR: no, I liked the whole 'pound Rufus Shinra's bitchy face into the ground' idea. Sephy I like the whole 'hey, he looks really really good' idea.

Aken: why don't you get to the rest of the stuff for the opening? I thought you hated these long-ass things.

ANR: no, I hate reading long-ass openings, I love writing them.

Aken: --;;

BD: well, then, what's with 'no Shinra'?

ANR: I didn't have the brain power to try to think on that one enough. I might pop them in for a good chunk later, then have all of them die horrible deaths, then continue, but that's only if I feel like it.

Aken: moving on...

ANR: ok, well, how this one works is kinda complicated and kinda simple at the same time. I switched around genders in certain cases, went bias to the max in other cases, and just had a bunch of goddam fun in other places, I switched the cast around so they were like my friends, and I did my best to try and keep it true to the plot and at the same time give it my own twist, and, I demand an opportunity to pull my ass out of the fire later on! It will not stay all that weird for too long once it has hit that really weird mark, guys, if you're reading this! It gets normal!...in this story's version of normal that is...

Aken: be specific, blockhead.

ANR: shut face, worm food!

Aken: . 

BD: fails miserably at trying not to burst into a fit of hysterical laughter at the little exchange in insults

Aken: shut up! Damn you!

ANR: ignoring them now, though the pair can be seen in the background, BD laughing, Aken swearing, chasing her around some of this stuff, I am probably going to be killed for if my friends find it. But, I want them to know, I didn't think of it consciously, I was unconscious when the idea came to me. So, please don't hate, hurt, or both of the above, me, ok?

ANR: well, there's the Author's Notes and Disclaimer. Now on to the cast.

Aken: here's where your life is directly put on the line.

ANR: shut the hell up. Ok, now, actually, as he stated, here's where I test my limits. Actually, guys, if you're reading this, which I actually hope you're not, is partly for you all. I messed up a lot with you all. And I feel like I wasn't there when I should have been, and I'm the most sorry that I said so many things that I never should have thought of. I'm hoping you forgive me. So, since I keep getting this feeling like I wasn't there enough, or didn't help enough, this has the core idea that I will be there and want to help you out. Think of it as a dedication, or an out-and-out, poorly written mockery. But it's sort of for you. So, were we go.

Aken: I'm going to barf...

ANR: beats him with a pool cue shut up! Ruin the damned moment, why don't chya!

Aken: fine, I will-ah! gets beat again Xx;;

ANR: there. That aught to shut him up. Now, then, let's us see to this story...

BD: don't you mean 'let us'?

ANR: nope. Let's us.

BD: shrugs ok. Your call, 'Venom'.

ANR: very funny. VenomANR's prized character in the only Guilty Gear game she's ever played, GGX2. He uses a pool cue as a weapon...odd, but neat pool cue is not a take off from him, I have that as my own thing, which I then remembered later belonged to him...basically, I beat up my younger cousin with a pool cue because he was being a little shit...and one of my friends, who is in the story, when I told her this, said that, from then on, I should draw me with a pool cue ok, now, we're moving on...

Cast

ANR: chalking her pool cue, leaning against a pool table ok, that all was fun, but, let's get down to the marrow here... finishes chalking, turns around to aim at a ball here's the cast for my story/dream-gone-overboard...

CLACK!

ANR: Nine ball, corner pocket. does a Jessie James thing with her pool cue

BD: --;; oh, that's not copyrighted or anything...

ANR: hey, I don't see Venom anywhere complaining.

Aken: just incase, I hired a bodyguard.

ANR: I'm failing to resist the urge to inform you of the fact that Venom is an assassin...

Aken: ok, now I'm calling a coroner...

BD: --;;

ANR: oo;;

...Now Cast:

ANR: here we are, lezzee...

Aken: she uses a lotta weird words...

BD: no, she just writes them as how they sound when she says them, that's all.

Aken: oh.

ANR: cease your barky noise making! Here's the cast list for real this time!

Aken/BD: --;

Cast:

Real People

G. Boman: one of my best, and most cherished, friends Genevieve, at the time of my transformation, is having problems still with her life, and is trying to find some kind of comfort in a girl name Nikki, not knowing about a little mystery that Nikki has hidden from everyone, and not knowing that Nikki is using her as a crutch for her own pride.

E.Miller: one of my best, and most cherished, friends Lizz has some small problems in her life too, but, one of the growing ones is the problem of Nikki and Genevieve. She's one of few people in the world that can seriously say she believes in something and stand tall through ridicule with out a second guess on her beliefs.

A. Whitham: one of my best, and most cherished, friends. Anna is a rarity among people, she's one-hundred percent pure. Gentle, kind, humorous when she's loosened up a bit, and at the same time, strong and determined. She and Lizz share the instinct of "stand up for what you believe in, don't let people break it". side note, she doesn't like Nikki much either

N. Bober: Noah's pretty well one of my only guy friends, therefore he's the one that I know best and want to protect the best..Noah's just damned neat. He's an artist with wicked talent, and a wild imagination. Noah's an enigma all in himself as well, you can't figure that kid out if you try as hard as you can. He's not fond of Nikki either, which adds to the list of 'everyone in our group hates Nikki, aside from Genevieve' members.

J. Fiore: my cousin, Jessi, just right off the bat, isn't too fond of Nikki herself, though all she's heard from me are bits and pieces over the last few years...before and after I started hating that bitch... Jessi's one of my most cherished friends in a way that not even my other friends can match, she and I have been friends ever since I can remember, though she knows more about it than me. I've always been Jessi's 'shadow' of sorts. Always following her whenever I'm around her. She's one of two people that are closest to me out of everyone I know. she also has her own beliefs, attitude, which you don't mess with, trust me, and personality, along with what she wants to do when she's out of collage...but I'm regressing back to some of her older hobbies for this story.

E. Van Opens: Lisa, my best friend since the day I met her, Lisa is the second person of the pair I mentioned in Jessi's bio. The three of use call ourselves the 'Three Musketeers' and did as much as we could with each other. Lisa's got an attitude and personality where she puts her all into whatever she feels and does. She's sporadic and slightly chaotic in nature at times and is one of the most loyal people you'll ever meet. as a side note, I don't think she'd like Nikki very much/I don't think there would be enough tiny bits and pieces left of Nikki after this girl is through with her...Lisa's scary when angered...

Story Characters

Katie Fiore/Azuril Noir Raine: waking up to find myself a female cop-off of Vincent Valentine makes for somewhat of a shock, I run away before my parents see me, decide it best to drop out of existence, go to say my last good-byes to the people I love the most, then try to find the little 'Dr. Hojo' weasel that pulled this stunt and get myself into trouble, ending out stuck in a box. That's where the stuff I can't tell you begins later on, I change my name, leaving a girl that died decades before buried in her grave

Damien Cain: the 'Cloud' of our story. the person that most resembles Genevieve Damien's best friends were killed right in front of his eyes by a woman he thought loved him, she also then proceeded to blow away his entire hometown, now, hearing that that same woman is moving around the remains of the world, he is ready to kill her, no matter the circumstances or consequences along the way, he meets up with all of the rest of the cast, some of them also hunting for the same woman as him Damien, since I'm lazy, uses a long katana as a weapon

(I'm running out of ideas. I went through and did everyone else, but, I can't figure her out!) Miko Hoshii: the name is a nice combo I think. Since I finally figured out a goddam name, this'll do, dammit! The first name, 'Miko' is a priestess, or shrine maiden. The last name 'Hoshii' means star. I think it's a neat combo. You don't like it, bite me. Miko is on her own little mission to bump off the bad guy. One of her best friends was killed right in front of her and now she's out for revenge.she grew up with Damien, and shared a hometown with him, meaning her home was wiped out along with his her weapons her wicked punches and kicks

Annakhin Stesia (ah-nah-khyn) (long 'I' sound, like in the word 'hi'.) (stay-see-ah) (pronunciations done incorrectly, but I think they get the point across, right?): the name is, I think, kind of a pun. But, you'd have to know Anna to get it. I can't explain it, you just need to hear it to get it. the 'Aeris' of our story Annakhin meets up with Damien by chance. She bears no grudges, but wants to help anyway. She tags along with Damien as he keeps on his course though Aeris uses a weapon, Annakhin doesn't, she uses healing and cure magic, along with light and holy magic, and Zykan, her spell bound guardian.

Zykan: the Caith Sith/Yuffie, I guess, I dunno. He's the group prankster and mystery character Zykan meets up with the group at the same time as Annakhin, he's bound do her by a seal that he was once trapped in, a bracelet that Annakhin wears. He's the incarnation of all of time's evil and darkness, he uses black magic. His power is limitless, but the extra charms and seals placed on him over his time being bound to people or staying sealed away pull him down more than Annakhin's paranoia and extreme limitations to his power. He can't do anything without Annakhin's permission, if he disobeys his spell bond master, the seal affects him accordingly with however big the slip up is. though he retains a human form, Zykan's skills and tendencies, along with several unintentional slip-ups, prove that appearances are definitely not always what they seem. Zykan's weapon is a scythe

Bobby Mercer: the 'Cid' of the story she's good with mechanics, munitions, and piloting. And loves a good thrill and challenge, in this case, Damien's quest fits the bill. Bobby's fondness of 'oldies' music, which they managed to keep some of and salvage from around the year I was screwed over and is the victim of my brain going into auto-pilot, stuck with me following her everywhere though Cid's weapon is a lance, Bobby's weapon, because I'm lazy, is a boomerang that's about as tall as she is, and alchemy

Skayr (said like the word 'scare') Dolton (some proof that I watch too much Fullmetal Alchemist): Skayr is a mix between the 'Nanaki'('Red XIII') and the 'Barret' of the story. She has more of Nanaki's attitude and scars, but I needed someone to put in Barret's place, so I made her the muscle of the team. Skayr has a grudge against the woman that's assuming the 'Sephiroth'/'Hojo' role of the story similar to Damien's. her mother was a victim of the 'Sephiroth'/'Hojo' of the story, soon after, she herself became an escaped victim of the baddy and she's hell-bent on revenge. This being the only reason that she joined the group. Skayr's weapon is enhanced speed and several science endowed skills (somewhat picture Sesshoumaru's skills, any Inu Yasha people)

FF: VII Characters

Vincent Valentine: he's a damned difficult little fucker to drag out of the mansion with ya, the damned little Manic-Depressive-Undead-Freak... Vincent was experimented on and put in a coffin in a basement, stuck in stasis for 30 years until Cloud and company found him and finally managed to get the stubborn little bastard's ass out of the damn box so he would join their party. He's got a sad, cryptic and somewhat stoic outside, and a good heart inside. His weapon is a gun, my fave's Peace Maker. his reason for being so sad, stubborn, and experimented on is because of a woman he loved and ended up losing too much in pursuit of her affections...poor thing, you really gotta feel sorry for him, don't ya?

Cloud Strife: the main character of FFVII Cloud's idol and hero killed his entire hometown and then vanished, Cloud's quest for revenge is the plot line of the game Cloud's weapon is a sword that's just about as damned tall as he is, how he manages to get around with that thing, I may never know. The trademark sword for him is the Buster Sword.

Tifa Lockheart: a friend of Cloud's from childhood, Tifa has the same grudge as Cloud, only, no idolizing the killer. She has a kick-ass attitude and can hold her own, she's the kind of person to head for her goal and not stop or look back Tifa's weapon is her fists...and a couple good kicks. I thought this fit Lizz's attitude perfectly. ;

Aeris Gainsborough: a girl Cloud meets on accident in Midgar at the beginning of the game, she wants to go with Cloud and he is pretty well forced to say yes, since she won't let him alone on it, plus she hires him as a bodyguard at one point, so, it makes some sense that a girl that specializes in healing and cures would hang around him, now, wouldn't it. Aeris also has much more to her than what everyone thinks, she held powers even the main badguy of the story was afraid of. Aeris' weapon is a staff

Cait Sith: a cute kitty thing that rides on something called a Moogle (your guess is as good as mine on that one, people...) And is a fortune teller from the FFVII version of Vagas. He's spy for the bad guys originally, but in the end, is purely good. No grudge ties here, just the fact that he works for the bad guys and some of his own determination keep him in the group Cait Sith's weapon is a megaphone

Yuffie Kisaragi: a ninja with a nasty pick-pocketing habit, and she's just an all around pain in the ass that manages to get Vincent pissed right off the bat. Good goin', girl. Dead man walking! Yuffie's weapon is a big-ass throwing star lookin' thing...look it up, dammit, I don't know what it's called!

Cid Highwind: Cid's a, sort-of, ex-pilot, he still flies a plane so he's still a pilot, right? With a grudge against the corporation that no one likes among the people in Cloud's group, he joins up with them. He smokes a pack a minute, least, I think so, and has a mouth almost as bad as mine, which I'm keeping in check rather nicely. Cid's weapon is a lance.

Red XIII: a captive in Dr. Hojo's lab in the Shinra Headquarters or what ever it's called...he was rescued by Cloud when they went to find Aeris after she'd gotten herself caught, I can't quite explain the rest of him Red's weapon is himself

Other

(Badguy)Angela Seraf: this character is an actual original that I didn't model after someone. She's the one everyone's hunting, but she's more like Dr. Hojo. She's the cause of my altercations as well, which puzzles me because of time intervals. You know, the whole 'you're still living!' kinda thing. her weapon is all of the things she creates.

(Any other characters will be explained as/if they pop up)

(Yes, I'm playing a role in the field of 'bitchiness' and putting Nikki in, sort of. it's her, but it's someone that's been acting the part for quite some time.)

(All formal disclaimers apply. I don't own FF7, I don't own any of the songs, or series that are referenced or mimicked, or any of the characters that are referenced or mimicked. I did make up Damien, Zykan, Cole, Angela, Clare, Azuril, Bobby, Skayr, Annakhin and Miko, among others, and I don't want other people to use them. I plan on making no money off of this, too much work.)


	2. ch 1 look with different eyes

Look With Different Eyes

me pov

"mmnn...huh...? wha...?" I woke up with all that being said, finding myself on my floor, not my bed. I figured I'd fallen out of bed, something I hadn't done in years. My head was pounding and in felt slightly sick, sitting up would have been less strenuous if it weren't for those facts. Then, I noticed something I hadn't before, my room had different shades of grey in it than it had before, me being completely color blind and all, I didn't know it was color that I was seeing. I closed my eyes, finding things more comfortable that way, I was still dead tired, after all. My head continued to ache, more and more. I figured that, in itself, would keep me up the rest of the night. Well, I was up the rest of the night, but that wasn't why. I was on my knees by then, whining from the pain in my head, the nausea might subside when I lay down. That was my thought pattern when I put my hand on my mattress to brace myself to stand, that's when I noticed the first minor sign of something being wrong. You can tell I was sarcastic with the 'minor' part, right? As opposed to my arm, which I miss dearly, I found a metal version, with clawed fingers, that sent me reeling back, falling over and bumping my head, yelping from the blast of sudden pain. I backtracked a bit to the sitting position, looking at what had been a flesh-and-blood arm, but was now a metal cop-off. My noticing my wardrobe change came next. Though the outfit was extremely cool, under opinion, that is, the fact that I was wearing it and not the clothes I'd gone to bed in clouded however cool I thought the outfit to be. "What...the hell...happened to me?" was all I said, feeling dizzy now. Never once in my life have I fainted, and I wasn't about to start then. I managed to haul myself upright, standing was dizzying and it sent a head-rush to join my steadily forming migraine. I sat down in my computer chair, finding that less strenuous. Then, I noticed that I was sitting on something. I pulled what ever it was out from under me and my jaw dropped. I'd been sitting on my Final Fantasy VII game guide. Which I, being the fanatic that I am, had opened to the bio page of my dearly beloved favorite character, Vincent Valentine. My brain was a little slow on reining itself in, but once I had it all together, I was quick to do the math, metal claw matches metal claw, outfit matches outfit. That's where I stopped for a second, 'gun matches'.. Did I have a gun? I patted around my clothes and, finally, came upon a gun. Ok, we have gun, plus outfit, plus claw equals Vincent. But, I had all of that too, and I knew I sure as hell am not Vincent. Someone's got a vivid imagination. That someone likes to make their thoughts into reality, don't they? I looked myself up and down again, standing up slowly, what the hell had happened to me? And when? The best question I asked myself was 'how the bloody hell did I not notice!'. that last one is still puzzling me. I may never know, but that's not what we're truly talking about, now, is it? I was on my feet and dropping the game guide, standing there in the middle of my room, staring forward blankly, trying desperately to think around my migraine. Eventually, it ended up being too much. I'm positive I broke an ear drum at the scream I let loose, screaming is a natural talent for me. I knew my parents were up, no living creature could sleep through that scream. I scribbled something down on a piece of paper, thanking God that Vincent's right arm wasn't the one that had been altered, me being right handed and all. Then, I was gone, I don't have any idea how they do it in cartoons and movies, but I accomplished the whole 'diaper out a window in a matter of seconds' thing, and the even more important 'don't get caught' part at the end.

I was standing in my front yard now, it sounds corny, but, saying good bye to the tree out front, I actually really liked having that tree there, it was a magnolia tree that was in full blossom when I was saying good bye. I took a long and hard look at my house, knowing that I wouldn't be back. I was one of those sentimental types at that time, so hearing my family inside running to get dressed and go out to find me feel lower than dirt with the knowledge that I wouldn't come home. But, eventually, they got to the front door and I just early managed to get out of view, I owe that tree another one, hiding deep in the magnolias was actually perfect come for me. They all ran right by, but my dogs were a problem, and I was mortified with myself for going after my gun when I saw my dogs run over to the tree. The shock from all of that, and my head ache, finally betrayed me worse than ever, I fell out of the tree. Surprised when I got right back up onto my feet. Damn, that bastard that had done whatever it was to me did a good job. No time to think on that. There was only time to run. My parents had seen me fall and were a hair's width away from what I considered to be too close. I jumped straight up, again, shocked when I found myself landing crouched down on one knee on my porch roof. I muttered and apology and was gone.

Again and again and again I was surprised even more by my speed, metabolism and abilities. I was jumping from roof top to roof top, at that point testing as to what I was capable of. I'd need to wait to see if I could actually use a gun. I stopped suddenly when I heard sirens below. "Dammit! My parents called the cops!" I growled to myself, I knew it would be difficult, if not impossible, to catch me. But I also knew how damned determined some cops could be. Again, at that time, at that place, I was still a fool. I hopped around town for a bit, knowing that I didn't really have much else to do.

Finally, I got tired of hopping and jumped to the ground, deciding to walk. The collar of Vincent's cape went up high enough to hide part of his face in the game, whoever it was that had done this to me had stayed true to that as well. A missing person can't be found if they can't be seen. I was thinking more as I was walking, I defiantly couldn't go home, and I also defiantly couldn't go to school, but, I also defiantly couldn't wander around like a hobo for the rest of my life, how ever long that may be. I decided on what to do then and there. I would drop out of existence. It would be easiest for everyone that way. I was obviously not human anymore, why try living as something you are not. I say my good-byes to the few people that would care and then be gone. After good byes, I'd find whoever had played 'Dr. Hojo' on me, bump them off and then become a shadow. Walking became slow after that thought. I was going to get this done and fast, back to the roof tops.

I decided to stop at Genevieve's first. It was the one I remembered off hand, and I was headed that direction anyway.

"Poor Genevieve..." I said to no one, "she's got enough on her plate already without me adding myself into the mix." but she needed to know. All of my friends did. I'd feel even more inhuman if I didn't tell them. I got to Genevieve's, don't ask me how I knew it was her house, but, I did. It unnerved me a bit, but I pushed it aside and sat quietly in a tree, figuring out how I would accomplish this without anyone fainting or dying on accident. Then I decided on the simple route. I jumped down out of the tree and walked up to the door. Now that I think about it, I probably should have used the window. But, it's too late now. I gave the door a couple loud knocks, opting for knocking with every house I would be going to. Yes, I defiantly should have gone in by window in all those cases. Again, too late now. I fought with my nervousness as I waited, who the hell would recognize me? What's more, and what was most pressing, would Genevieve recognize me? That made me want to play Ding-Dong Dutch on that very spot. Obviously, that wasn't meant to be, because the door was opened by Genevieve's mother, I could tell she was just getting ready to pack up whatever she'd been doing before I came and go to bed by the look on her face. That look changed drastically to complete confusion.

"Halloween's not until next year." was all she said before she started to close the door, nope, they didn't recognize me in this get-up, I was keeping the outfit anyway.

"Is Genevieve awake?" I asked quickly, the door opened all the way again, "um, I need to talk to her, it's important." I was sounding more sure of myself. And with every good bye I'd make that night, I would become more and more sure of myself.

"She's upstairs doing her homework." Mrs. Boman said. Then she stared at me for a second, finally a light went on for her, "are you her friend Katie from school?" I nodded, surprised that she'd remember after only meeting me twice, I will note now that she may have heard her daughter talk about me before, but, I reiterate about my foolishness at that time. She let me inside and called Genevieve down, then Genevieve's sister came in, her baby boy was wailing like a banshee, I winced at the noise, never wake a baby. I had forgotten that.

"Mom, he won't stop crying." she said, handing her baby off to her mother and walking away. I just stared after her in shock, how could she just abandon her kid like that? But, then again, she was the one who made a choice and paid a price. Not me. I just paid the price, for what I don't know, I never will. Dominic, I think that was his name, was overly loud, not stopping his shrieks for even a second as Genevieve finally came down the stairs.

"Hi." was all I said, I think it took her a minute to recognize the voice, my face was still partly hidden by a cape collar.

"Katie?" she half asked, I only nodded, there was a knot in my stomach, I hated to say good-bye to anyone. And that occasion was no different. "What are you doing here?" she asked, I'd only closed my eyes, which, I had finally figured out, were capable of normal sight now, not the half-vision I had gone to bed with that night.

"Genevieve, I came to say good-bye." I said in a voice that I knew sounded broken. One thing I was glad of was the fact that my cape had kept my new arm hidden. I didn't want her to see what I had become. "Need to leave for good. And I had to say good bye first. That's why I'm here." she looked confused.

"What? Say good bye? Can't you say it tomorrow at school?" she asked, I could tell that she was as fed up as I was with Dominic's crying. Neither of us said a thing about it. I shook my head, I would do that a lot that night.

"No. There's not gonna be a 'tomorrow at school' for me, Genevieve. I can't go back to school. I can't even go home. That's why I needed to say good bye right away. I'm going to Anna's next. Then Lizz, Jessi, and my friend Lisa. Then, I need to find someone. That's when I'll diaper. I know I shouldn't have said that. But I trust you." I turned to leave after that, "think extremely carefully about who you think of as a friend and ask questions. Find out who really cares for you and who doesn't. You're smart. Don't get caught up in something you won't be able to escape from." I said, hoping she'd take my advice and ask our, I'm sorry, her little group of friends who really would and who wouldn't be there for her. I knew one person who wouldn't and I was determined to get the point across that very night. Just to make sure she knew I was at the least a little serious, even if my back was turned to her, I used my clawed arm to push my cape aside, so she could see it. I left Genevieve's and I know she saw me jump into a tree and diaper from view.

I knew Lizz stayed up God awful late to finish homework, the same as Genevieve. So I knew someone would be there to answer the door. Sure enough her sister answered the door.

"Hey, Manda, is Lizz up?" then I added quickly "it's Katie." at that end part her jaw dropped. Again, glad to know my friends can recognize me.

"Katie? Why are you here?" but she let me in all the same, I dodged the question, not time for that answer yet.

"Can you go and get Lizz? I need to talk to you both." I said, again hiding my left arm. Manda nodded and went to get her sister. Once Lizz had entered the room and given the WTCF sort of line, I answered the question Manda had asked, "I'm here to say good bye. I wish I could stay. But I can't." I said, also silently praying that my gun was hidden too, that wouldn't be a very good fiasco if they saw it.

"What? What are you talking about?" Lizz asked, she was still a little confused by my outfit, which, again, I kept anyway.

"I mean I'm not gonna be at school tomorrow, or the next day or the next day, and so on. I won't be at school, I won't be at home, I won't be anywhere. I'm leaving all of this for good." I said, still afraid she'd get upset enough to try to smack some sense into me. "I can't be around humans any more." I said, waiting for the bomb to hit. It hit quick.

"What are you talking about! You are human! Why do you keep saying 'good bye'!" she was nearly yelling at me. I closed my eyes, bit my lip, which I would later find was a bad idea, I have slightly sharper teeth in just that right spot in your mouth, and raised my left arm, that stopped her.

"Does _this_ look human to you?" I asked. She was standing still now, silent and slightly pale, Manda looked like she was about to scream. "Don't scream. Please. Don't say anything. I didn't want this to happen I didn't even know it did. I only woke up to it. I can jump on roof tops, it was accidently proven that I can fall quite a ways without getting hurt. I can see now, though." I said, lowering my arm. "I don't know what kind of sick joke was played on me. But, some nerd with too much brain power, too much spare time, and a sick sense of humor, turned me into a character from a video game. Video games aren't supposed to be real. And creatures like what I am now aren't supposed to be real either. So I need to go. I need to drop out of existence and never be seen or heard from again. I'll give you the list that I gave Genevieve, I'm stopping at Anna's next, then Jessi's then my friend, Lisa's. then I need to find the person that did this to me and make sure they don't do it to anyone else. So, good bye." then I bolted out the front door and pulled my vanishing act again.

Anna's went relatively fast. She was the one I didn't want to frighten the most Anna's impossible to get mad at and she's always been a good friend to me, so it wasn't easy to say good bye. I said good bye and gave the story of going on a long trip. I hoped she'd learn the truth someday. She never saw my arm, or my gun, thank God!

Next was Lisa, I'd decided to leave relatives for last, Jessi was my cousin. This time, I didn't knock on the front door. I didn't want her stepfather to see, so I eliminated the chances of him answering the door right away. She had a back door, of sorts, that had a lock like a screen door, I got in through there, wondering vaguely why no one had broken in. Suffice to say I'd just become the first to break in. I snuck as quietly as I could, getting to her room in a matter of seconds. I was also breaking the 'no shoes past the doorway' rule. But I found that irrelevant and continued on. I shook her a bit by the shoulder,

"Lisa, Lisa, wake up." I whispered, trying for several minutes to wake her. She finally woke up, I stepped back as quickly as I could. She sat up and looked around,

"Who...?" she started, I knew she was wondering who had woken her.

"Lisa," I started, she jumped, then looked at me with wide eyes,

"Katie?" well, at least she knew me right away. I nodded slowly.

"Yeah, Lisa, it's me. I need to talk to you. I already got to my school friends, and after I'm done here I'm going to Jessi's. But, I need to do this quick, I need to get outta here before anyone figures out I'm here. So, let's just get this out of the way. I'm leaving for good, as in not coming home." I said quickly, then, just like with Lizz, I waited for the bomb to hit. It hit rather quickly.

"What! What do you mean leaving for good! How did you get in my room! And-" she stopped her rampage for a second, " your cloths look like Vincent's from FFVII."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious. I walked in after opening the door. And I mean 'I'm leaving forever and not coming back'. I can't stay among humans any more. So, sorry." I said, I didn't know what else to do, she was my best friend and I couldn't find any true way of saying good bye. But, that's to be expected, right? I'm not going to share the rest of Lisa's war-path. I'm going to skip to my cousin's war-path.

She was the second one to find me sitting in her room silently waiting for her to wake up. She let out a small scream and fell out of her bed, sitting up automatically and staring at me in what little light was coming in through her window, either this all had taken longer than I'd thought it had, or there was a street light that I failed to process in my overloaded mind. I will now inform you that it had, in fact, been a street light. At first, just like all of the people, save Lisa, she didn't seem to recognize me, then again, I was sitting cross-legged on her spare bed, which was right across from her bed, wearing dark cloths, and dressed rather creatively. I tilted my head to the side a bit,

"you _can_ turn on the light, you know. I won't melt." I said. She jumped to her feet, whether preparing to run, find a blunt object to fend me off with, or turn on the light, I was waiting to find out. Finally, she turned on the light in her room and jumped another few feet away from me. "Um...boo?" I said, she was staring wide-eyed at me, I think she recognized me.

"What the hell...?" she said, stuck still with shock. I turned myself around on the bed so I was facing her. She could now tell who I was. "What are you doing here? Did my parents let you in? What's with the outfit?" I let out a tired sigh, why me?

"I've been getting that question a lot tonight. No, your parents did not let me in, I climbed in through the sky roof thingy in your bathroom, don't give me that look, it's true. And I woke up with it on, I found several altercation to my personage had been made as well, aside from the clothes, which I think are pretty damn neat."

"Sky roof thingy? How, if you did actually get in through that thing, did you pull that off without falling on your head?" she asked, I knew how she worked, she was trying to corner me on that one, but, oh boy, would I have fun with it.

"Want me to show you?" I asked, with Jessi and Lisa, I was a little looser, they could handle it, I reined myself in for my school friends. Now, would be the best of them all. Jessi looked skeptical, but finally followed me into the bathroom, which is tiny and smells of cat, making sure the doors were closed, and the one to the outside world locked, then she leaned back against the door we'd come in through and waited. I simply jumped straight up, using that damnable claw for something useful, I hooked it over the edge of the roof, yanking myself up out of the house completely. Several seconds later, I swung half way down, hanging upside-down and staring at my cousin, who was pale white and looked stuck stiff. "See? Told ya." I said, "I was gonna use that weird little balcony thingy, but then I remembered I had a better chance at waking up everyone else in the house if I did, so, this is what popped into my head next. I think it's neat. Did I scare you that badly?" she shook her head,

"how did you do that?" she asked, I swung back up onto the roof, then jumped back down into the room, landing silently in front of her.

"I told you," I was back to being serious, I had to go soon. I wanted this all done that very night. All of it. "Some altercations were made. I'm not truly human anymore, Jessi." I said, then I opened the door to her room, walking out of the bathroom and back to the guest bed, which I sat down on, crossing my legs automatically, it was comfortable to sit like that. Jessi came in a few seconds later, sitting down on her bed, staring at me as though I'd grown another head, which I'm pretty sure might have sounded logical to her at that moment. My heart had gone back to racing, another one of my hardest good byes. I'd never wanted to make this one, but I knew I had to.

"What happened to you?" she asked, her composure was regained, I was still me, so it was alright to talk to me as if it were a normal conversation.

"I, honestly, don't know. I slept through whatever it was,.and whoever did it did it shit-quick." I said, then I looked at my left hand, now a claw made of metal. "And a damned accurate job too." that confused her.

"'accurate'? What do you mean?" she asked, I only looked at her.

"Jessi, this all should look familiar to you. You read the guide. You watched me play." her eyes were slowly widening with every word I said, "you heard my babbling over and over again, and what's more, you've seen his picture." now she looked like she'd gone into a state of paralysis. "Jessi, some nerd with too much spare time, far too much exposure to Final Fantasy VII, far too much intelligence, the right kind of equipment and a sick sense of humor turned me into Vincent Valentine." I said, she was shaking her head and muttering about me being nuts more than she'd thought possible. I shook my head, "no, Jessi, this isn't some freak hoax. You saw me jump through a sky roof, light, whatever. The outfit should be a dead give away. And then, you didn't notice this?" I stretched my left arm out in front of me, giving her full view of what was there. "That's another dead give away. I've jumped on roof tops, I've fallen a fairly high distance and walked away unscathed, the list goes on. But the worst part...now I know how he must have felt. Isolated right away, like some kind of escaped freak show performer. I'm vanishing for good after I find out who did this to me and blow their brains out. Oh, yes, and, whoever it was that played 'Hojo' on me gave me full eyesight, and a gun." I held up said object, I knew she wouldn't freak out, we both knew I had no idea how to use a gun. She took it from me and looked it over, she did have a license to own and use a gun, I think that's how it went. I can't really remember anymore. But, she knew what to do to make a gun go 'bang' successfully, I did not.

"This thing's real!" she cried, nearly dropping it, "where did you get this! Who gave it to you!" she pressed on.

"I already told you several times, I don't know." I said, then I held out my human hand, "may I have my gun back please." she, oddly enough, didn't argue. I put the gun away and sat staring at her, I knew someday I would forget the faces of all of my friends and family. That is a day I still wait for. I had to finish this quickly, the faster I let go, the quicker I could fall. "I can't stay here anymore." I said, looking down at my clawed left hand, "I can't stay among humans. I can't live as something I'm not. So, this is the last time you'll see my face." I looked up at her, she was staring in shock, "I realized a second ago that I don't really have any recent pictures of any of my friends. Even you and Lisa. I think that's good and bad. Bad because I don't seem to have anything as a reminder of your faces. Good because now your faces won't haunt me forever. I'll be able to forget. I hope. Well, good bye." I said, standing up and walking towards the bathroom. Jessi stopped me, of course, and we had a small argument, which managed to somehow wake up her dogs, who started barking, and while she was rushing out of the room to shut them up, I was climbing out of the house and getting away without a scratch.

I was half way through searching the city by sight alone when I remembered something, I should have forgotten it, what I had told Genevieve about figuring out who her true friends were, that would be useless if one of them lied, which I knew she would. I decided to make sure she didn't. Being the idiot that I was, I went to find her house. It frightened me as to how quickly I found it, as if I had known its location the entire time. I jumped up onto the roof when I heard someone coming to the door, then nearly fell off of the roof when Nikki walked outside, turned around to face the house, put her hands on her hips in a classic 'mother about to scold her child' pose, then she looked right at me, grinning.

this can't be good. was all I had time to think or say before she started talking.

"Well, well, well, look who came back to her maker. I figured you'd come." she said, sounding so sure of herself and casual at the same time. I was lost completely.

"What the hell are you babbling about! I just came here because I decided I didn't want you lying to my friends and leading Genevieve on anymore. How'd you know I'd be coming!" I snapped, in all truth, I was afraid. I remember that part clearly. I was afraid of her. She crossed her arms over her chest, still grinning like a cat who'd caught the mouse.

"I guess I should have kept you here after all. Your memory didn't process this place at all, yet you still found it right away. Do you wonder why?" I nodded my head, I wanted to know, but hated admiting she was right, "because this is where you were re-born. The 'creature', as you consider yourself, that you are now was created here. By me."

"Oh, well, if that's not the biggest load of bull shit I've ever heard!" I said, "now, you just sound like the nutter you keep telling all of us you were thought to be. I'm insane, but you're a completely lost cause, ya fruity loon!" she gave a short laugh, still grinning.

"Vincent had Hojo to turn him into a monster." she started, I sat quietly, listening, "and you have me to turn you into a monster." I glared death at her. "Glare at me as much as you like, it won't bring your humanity back." that did it. I had my gun out and pointed at her faster than I thought I was capable of, I also found I knew how to work it, though I never got the chance to pull the trigger. A sharp pain around my neck made me stop, it felt as though something was choking me, then the feeling of being zapped by electricity came in and I fell off the roof with a small scream.

When I managed to fully wake up, my neck aching, my head throbbing and my heart racing, I looked around solely with my eyes, not sitting up to turn my head, that would have made my headache worse. I almost tried to scream, but that would have hurt as well, I was lying in a box, staring up at a stone ceiling, in a very dank and dark room.

oh, hell, no! I thought, this time, not only did I force myself to sit up, I forced myself to run for the door, which opened right into my face, sending me flying back a bit, clutching my head.

"You're up I see." Nikki said, she was standing there in the doorway, something hidden behind her back, "well, I'm sure you've figured out what comes next in the game. Am I right?" she said sarcastically, talking wasn't a burden anymore, I'd forced words to come beyond the pain in my neck.

"The hell I did!" I cried, then calmed a bit, "why me? And what the hell is this about? And I know for a fact that you're not Nikki. If you were, I'd be calling my mom asking for bail money right now. So, who are you?"

"You're right. I'm not Nikki. In fact, I haven't been Nikki since your freshman year of highschool."

"You mean this entire time Nikki wasn't there? It was you?" I was in shock, during the short time in my life when I'd followed Nikki around, and now during the drawn out period in my life that involves me hating Nikki, it had been someone else posing as Nikki? This made my brain hurt considerably. "Ok, I'll pretend to understand that. But, if you're posing as Nikki, who the hell are you, and why did you do all of those things over the past few years? Lead people on, lie, hurt people? What did you have to gain?"

"Angela Seraf, but you may call me Dr. Hojo, if it seems more appropriate for you. And, as for what I had to gain from all this madness...A cast." she said, I was back to being completely confused. "I needed a 'Vincent' for my little experiment here."

"You are a sick and messed up bitch with far too much time spent playing video games!" I informed her, she shrugged.

"Well, you fit the part perfectly." she said,

"what the hell?" I was shocked, to say the least, at that one. I fit the part of Vincent Valentine? How? She would answer that question next.

"Yes. You fit the part. At first, in the time you spent following me around, I was testing to see if one of your friends might step up and get in my way. But, you foiled that plan unknowingly by spending every other day with your friends. None of them needed to try to tell me that I would only end up hurting you because you held onto them more than you did me."

"Ok, so, the fact that I still made a point of spending a majority of my time with my friends saved them from you. I like how that sounds. Let's move on." I said, she glared a bit.

"Then, I wasn't sure on how to go about trying again, until I heard about the depression and depleting will to live that you were going through, the fact that you cared for your friends keeping you alive. I decided to test a theory I came up with, I started in on the girl with the most problems, the most things I could work with. I knew you would continually try to get in the way, pretending not to. Like Vincent with Lucretia." she explained. I was staring wide eyed.

damn. I really screwed myself over, didn't I? I thought, "but then, if she had the most to be sad about, why not Genevieve? Not that I want her here in my place, just out of curiosity." I asked, it seemed somewhat valid sounding.

"Because she had nothing to try to keep me away from." the Nikki imposter said, that got me pissed,

"yes, she would have! She had us! If I could have, I would have gladly helped her more. But you got in the way and now you're just pulling her down! I had to try to make it stop somehow!" I screamed, the feeling of being electrocuted came back, making me fall to the floor from the pain.

"You see?" the poser said, "your melancholy attitude, wishes of helping someone you care for more than yourself and constant stepping between me and your friend made you perfect for Vincent's part." she was sporting that grin again. I was on my hands and knees now, in too much pain to do much else, I glared up at her,

"ok, so you're that ugly sod Hojo, Genevieve is, if I'm following properly, Lucretia, and I'm Vincent. Right?" I said between breaths, I was trying to bring everything back to normal, heart rate, respiration rate, all of it. She nodded. Then, some sick realization came to me. We were in a basement, as far as I knew, I was in a dank and creepy room full of coffins, and I'd just gotten out of a coffin in my futile escape attempt. "Oh, shit." I said, eyes wide, I knew for sure I was right when she laughed, I suddenly had energy, enough to make me run for the door at full speed. She grabbed my arm as I ran past her, sticking me with the syringe she'd been hiding behind her back. My world faded out.

"_Been given 24 hours  
to tie up loose ends  
to make amends  
His eyes said it all  
I started to fall  
and the silence deafened  
Head spinning round  
no time to sit down  
just wanted to  
run and run and run  
Be careful they say  
don't wish life away,  
now I've one day_

And I can't believe  
How I've been wasting my time

In 24 hours they'll be  
laying flowers  
on my life, it's over tonight  
I'm not messing no I   
need your blessing  
and your promise to live free  
please do it for me

Is there a heaven a hell  
and will I come back   
who can tell  
Now I can see  
what matters to me  
it's as clear as crystal  
The places I've beenthe people I've seen  
plans that I made  
start to fade  
The sun's setting gold  
thought I would grow old,  
it wasn't to be

And I can't believe  
How I've been wasting my time

In 15 hours they'll be  
laying flowers  
on my life, it's over tonight  
I'm not messing no I  
need your blessing  
and your promise to live free  
please do it for me

13 hours they'll be  
laying flowers  
on my life, it's over tonight  
I'm not messing no I  
need your blessing  
and your promise to live free  
Please do it for me

I'm not alone, I sense it, I sense it  
All that I said, I meant it, I meant it

And I can't believe  
How much I've wasted my time

In just 8 hours they'll be  
laying flowers  
on my life, it's over tonight  
I'm not messing no I  
need your blessing  
and your promise to live free  
please do it for me

In just 1 hour they'll be  
laying flowers  
on my life, it's over tonight  
I'm not messing no I  
need your blessingand your promise to live free  
please do it for me"  
---_  
_Jem; _24_; _Finally Woken_


	3. ch 2 seeing for the first time

Seeing for the First Time

normal pov

Green eyes scanned up and down the exterior of the old wreckage of a factory, the building abandoned decades or more before, the owner of the green eyes, a young man with dusty blond hair and pale skin, shrugged,

"I don't see why it's a bad idea to try it. Do you guys?" he said, looking back at his group of companions, one was a petite girl with blue eyes and long, dark brown hair that was tied into a ponytail with a thick ribbon, she gave a nod.

"I don't see why not." she said, walking over to stand at the blond's side. The next to join them was another brown haired girl, she had brown eyes, her hair was short and slightly wavy with blond highlights. The next was also a girl with cobalt blue eyes, her long brown hair with faint red highlights to it was pulled into a loose ponytail, she agreed whole heartedly, jabbing at a slightly tanned, dark blond haired girl next to her, muttering to her that she should come too, which she finally consented to doing, glaring at her friend with one flame blue eye, her right eye missing, a scar going down her face over where her eye once was. The final member, a slim boy with eyes that were an odd shade of green in color and had slitted pupils, similar to a snake's, his wild, dark blond hair pulled into a ponytail to keep it out of the way. He grinned broadly, which showed off the fangs in his mouth in place of eye-teeth, he had a large scythe slung over his shoulder and a rather enigmatic air about him, and he was all for a challenge, even one so small as this. The girl with the short brown hair shook her head, muttering about how pathetic the boy was, earning her a short string of curses from the boy she'd insulted, she ignored them and adjusted the gloves she wore, said gloves having metal knuckles, the boots she wore were steel toed. Her weapon was her own strength, which had been proven very successful in battle. The girl with the brown and red hair hoisted a large boomerang up onto her back as though it were a satchel, shooing the pair along. The miffed blond haired girl growling under her breath, flexing her fingers and hands, her sharpened nails and enhanced speed and abilities made her a wicked opponent to go up against. The smaller girl had no weapon, she only needed to use magic, which came from her own skill anyway, no tools necessary. The boy who'd started the whole situation shook his head slowly,

"How the hell did I get myself mixed up in this lot?" he muttered to himself, adjusting the long-bladed katana that awaited use in a sheath on his back, the set up similar to the boomerang's. then he followed the rest of his group inside the factory.

"They say," the girl with the boomerang started to say, "that this isn't the first building to be put here. Not by a long shot. There's been houses, apartments, offices, then it was abandoned for a long while, after that, they tried more houses, and warehouses and finally factories. "

"and that would be relevant to anything...how?" the girl with the short brown hair asked, she was then belted on the back of her head, "ow! Just asking!"

"Well, Miko did sort of touch a good question, how old is this factory?" the boy with the katana asked, the girl with the boomerang looked around a bit, then shrugged,

"off of just a glance, I'd say it's a good seventy years old. They must have kept this one in use for quite some time." she said, the boy blanched,

"seventy years? And there was a whole bunch of other stuff built here over time?" he said, the girl nodded,

"hell, I'd say the history of buildings that were built here starts out back in the early 2000's." she said, laughing at the look her friend now had on his face.

"y'don't say..." the boy with the scythe said, half interested in that, half engrossed in his surroundings. Then he let out a loud yelp followed by a short scream, then a thud and a string of curses.

"Zykan, are you ok!" the petit brown haired girl called down the hole her friend had fallen through.

"Peachy. Get either me the hell out of here, or your asses down here! Now!" he snapped back up at them, the blond haired girl gave a derisive snort,

"with an attitude like that, we should make you climb out by yourself, imp!" she called down to him,

"oh, that is really fuckin' funny, Skayr! Really funny! Get me outta here, damn you!" was the only response the girl got. The girl with the iron knuckled gloves, who had been earlier called Miko, knelt down and looked into the hole,

"I can see him. He didn't fall _that_ far down." she said, sitting back on her haunches, "we should be able to get him out easily enough." she said, "Damien? Well?" she said, looking at the 'above ground' boy. He looked thoughtful,

"How do we get him up here without ending out down there?" he said, the girls shrugged in unison.

"Hell if I know." The girl with the boomerang said.

"Hell if I care." the blond said, arms crossed over her chest as she examined her surroundings. It was only when the floor cracked and gave way under her feet that she realized she was about to join her friend on the lower level of the factory. She landed several yards away from the boy earlier dubbed Zykan, who gave her a flat look.

"Hi." he said, the girl growled angrily and glared at him, he ignored her, "uh, Damien? Guys? Any day now would be nice! Huh?" he stopped snapping at the group above him and looked off to the side, "hey, screw getting us out, get down here! I found something!" he said, crawling over to his scythe and snatching it off the ground before he stood up and held his hand up, palm up, a small flame appeared above his hand and he held it out in front of him more, using it as a light. "Hey, Skayr, see if you can find a light switch or something. This thing won't be enough for all of you." he said, looking at the girl, who raised an eyebrow,

"all of us? And what of you?"

"Uh, this..." his pupils dilated, and he smirked, "I can see in the dark. You can't. That's what I mean by 'you all'."

"You little son of a-"

"guys!" the girl with the boomerang called from above them, "what's up? What'd Zykan find?"

"Hell if I know! The little bastard's taking his sweet time playing around down here. Get down here so he'll stop the tricks!" the blond growled, she couldn't help it, she had no patience with the trickster. He made it so hard for her to not kill him.

"Well, we'll be down just as soon as we can!" the little brown haired girl said. Then she came up with the obvious idea, she jumped down the hole, the blond, Skayr, caught her. "See? I told you."

"Yeah, yeah, funny." Skayr muttered, setting the girl aside. The others were down the hole shortly after, "thank god! Now you can deal with him!"

"Where is he?" Damien asked, looking around, then the lights came on around them. "Holy shit!" he yelped in surprise at the sudden change, then the group waited for their trickster friend to rejoin them "ok, Zykan, what'd you find?"

"This way." Zykan said, pointing to his left with his scythe. He led the way across the large room full of everything from tools and machinery to boxes and dresser drawers.

"This must be the basement." the girl with the boomerang said,

"gee, ya think?" Skayr said, shortly after, she was nursing a large bruise on her head as the other girl straightened out her boomerang, still sporting a miffed look.

"Bobby! Skayr! Cut it out, you two." Damien said, the girls fell silent and continued on, then they all stopped at Zykan's discovery.

"It's a door." Miko said flatly, the shorter brown haired girl stifled a giggle. Zykan glared at her,

"I can see that." he said, "but, with everything Bobby was saying earlier, do you think it's a door to something that one of the previous buildings left behind?"

"Or, since this is a factory, maybe it's a broom closet." Miko suggested half sarcastically. Zykan pointed at her with his scythe,

"hey! You are _always_ beating down my ideas! I swear it, you were sent here just to annoy me!" he snapped, Miko was laughing hystericly at him,

"I...can't breath! Oh, god! Oh, man! You are just _amazingly_ weird!" then she doubled over, "oh, god! I can't breath!" she managed between giggles. He started kicking at her,

"good!" he snapped. Finally, Damien managed to shut both of them up, "she started it." Zykan said, pointing to Miko, glared at him. Damien was practically ripping at his hair,

"I don't care who started it! Cut it out and don't do it again, both of you!" he snapped, they both nodded their understanding. Damien took several deep breaths, then walked back over by the trio that still stood by the door. "Ok, we'll try this again. Who votes we open it?" he said, Skayr raised her hand, "I expected that one." She gave him a dirty look, which he ignored, "ok, that's one, anyone else? Well, Zykan, of course you, you found the damn thing. So that's two...Bobby makes three...Miko...and...?" he looked down at the dark brown haired girl, who shrugged,

"I guess I agree, if everyone else wants to go in, then why not?" she said, Damien nodded, then opened the door, all of them falling back onto the ground when a huge group of bats flew out of the darkness that they were now looking into in hopes of seeing something else.

"Well? Anybody got a light?" Bobby said,

"I can take care of that." the dark brown haired girl said, chanting a few words, then she held a sphere out in front of her that was about the same size as a softball, a radiant light was shining off of it and everyone just grinned,

"Go, Annakhin." Miko said. The girl just smiled.

"Now, let's see what's in there." Damien said, watching his smaller friend walk over to the doorway and hold the light out as far as she could. The group then found themselves confused, there was a stairwell behind the door in the basement.

"I thought we were already in the basement." Bobby said, "so, Zykan was right and there is something weird here." she added.

"Yeah, so, let's leave it alone and go find some place else to explore." Miko said, though she knew it was a waste of breath, the group was already going down the stairs, "here we go, another thrilling joy ride..." she sighed and ran after her friends.

"Ah, great! Not only do we find a staircase, we find a hallway, this is too much walking! I'm goin' back up!" Zykan said, Damien grabbed him by the back of the long black robe he was wearing, black boots, a black tunic, and several belts of varying sizes and tightness were the rest of his outfit, and dragged him all the way down the hall.

"Doors." Bobby said,

"two of them." Miko said,

"no fuckin' duh, guys." Zykan said irritably, he was still being held in place by Damien.

"Which one should we go in first?" Annakhin said, Miko walked to the beginning of the group and stood next to Annakhin,

"we could split off. Zykan can make light too, three of us will go in one room, three of us in the other, then we'll trade rooms. What's say?" she said,

"Sounds easy enough." Bobby said, "I want the right door."

"As do I." Skayr said, only following Bobby, that and she knew Damien would have to keep Zykan in check, thus making two out of three in one group. Miko sighed loudly as she watched Annakhin follow Bobby and Skayr into the room on the right.

"I get stuck with the nutter. Perfect." she mumbled, "open the door, Damien, let's get this over with." she said, Zykan made a softball sized ball of light appear above them, his light was different from the light Annakhin had made, her light was pure and warm, his was slightly darker and gave of no heat or cold. They both did the trick though.

"Thank you, Zykan." Damien said off handedly as he tried to turn the handle. "Hey! It's locked!" then he glared at Zykan, "if I let you go, you stay here, or you lose a few limbs. You got it?" he said threateningly, Zykan nodded, not apt for disagreeing at this point. Damien had dropped his hold on Zykan, who backed away several steps to get out of the way, and was now yanking at the door handle with both hands, "dammit!" he sighed and stopped pulling, "locked. Better than I thought."

"Maybe it pushes open." Zykan suggested. That idea was then shot down when Damien attempted to push the door open and failed.

"Damn! What's this thing made of that it can withstand all this? It looks like wood." Damien remarked

"That sure as hell isn't wood." Zykan said, but Miko brought them back to the task a hand.

"Oh, it pushes open. Trust me." that was the only thing the pair needed to hear as they ran away from the door, just in time to avoid getting a fist to the face. The door came crashing down, she'd knocked off its hinges with the power of her punch. She was now standing on the door, staring down at it, "uhh...oops, I didn't mean to do that."

"Accidents happen, it's not like we need to pay property damage or anything." Zykan said with a shrug, leaning his scythe against the wall outside of the room Miko had opened the door to, Damien doing the same with his katana, then they followed Miko, who had stopped after about a yard's worth of space into the room and was now staring wide eyed, her face had lost some color as well. The pair stared at her in confusion, then looked around the room, yelping at the decor.

"What the hell is this! A morgue!" Damien cried, looking around frantically. Zykan was looking around calmly,

"it's a crypt, blockhead." he said, then he walked around the room, looking at all sorts of strange skeletons and broken coffins, "looks like most of these guys were buried alive...whatever they were..."

"What exactly did you mean by that?" Damien asked, giving the room a quick once over.

"Not many of these guys look human...some how altered humans, but still not human." Zykan said, then he stopped walking, turning to face the middle of the room, "hey," he pointed to a lone coffin that seemed perfectly intact and untouched, even by the rooting surroundings. "That one's still closed." he said. Damien and Miko, who was finally back among the living, nodded, walking over to the coffin, Zykan meeting them there.

"It looks either new, or well kept." Damien commented. Zykan grinned,

"let's open it." he said, his two friends stared at him in disbelief.

"Don't you have any respect for the dead?" Miko said, sounding slightly disgusted. Zykan only shrugged.

"Sure I do. But, sometimes, I'd rather join them." He said, leaning against the coffin, Miko gave a small laugh,

"well, I wish you'd do it sooner rather than later." she said

"guys! What did I tell you two earlier? I said 'no more' didn't I?" Damien said, then he looked at the coffin, "though, it does seem odd that this thing looks brand new and the others are rotted and falling apart."

"Come on, Damien, admit it, you're curious." Zykan said, smirking, Damien finally put his hands up in mock defeat,

"ok, I give. If I don't find out what's being so well cared for in that box, it'll just haunt me until I do. Let's open it." he grabbed hold of one side of the lid, Zykan had the other, and they picked the lid up and backed down the coffin, then off to the side, leaving it leaning against the side of the coffin, "that was heavier than I thought it'd be."

"Well, here's why, you grave robbers, it's got a few technical modifications. Looks like a mini support system of some kind. Whoever's in that coffin, someone wanted them to stay the way they looked when they were buried. This is damned good work here too." Miko said crouching by the lid, Damien and Zykan were at her side a second later, watching her point out different things, finally, Damien stood up and backed away from the pair still messing with the lid.

"So, if I've followed your techno talk properly, that lid had the right stuff in it to keep you looking how you did when you were buried for 'x' amount of time?" he said, Miko nodded,

"yes. But, this one's a little outdated. It was made a really long time ago, I'll tell you that right now. It looks like someone wanted this person to stay asleep, and I don't mean dead. I mean whoever's in there...they're still alive." she said, Zykan jumped away from her a bit,

"what? Buried alive?" he said, "cool." Miko gave him a look,

"you're sick."

"Yup and proud of it." Zykan said with a smirk, again, Damien intervened,

"hey, shut up. Come on over here, look at this." he was looking down into the coffin. The pair stopped their bickering for a second, standing on either side of Damien,

"whoa." Zykan said, his eyes widened for a second, then he just watched the body in the coffin as if it might do a trick. Miko's eyes went wide, then back to normal, she looked at Damien,

"who do you think she is?" she asked, Damien shrugged,

"I don't know. Nor do I know how long she's been down here, how old she was when she was buried, her name, who buried her or why she was buried." he said, Zykan was poking the metal left arm on the girl while Damien spoke, then he tilted his head to the side a bit,

"well, she ain't all human. That's for sure." he said, Damien hit him,

"leave it alone! Quit poking the dead girl." he said, Miko shook her head,

"No, not dead, she in stasis." she corrected.

"Cryogenic sleep?" Damien said, "now this is interesting."

The click of the safety on a gun being removed made them turn around to face the coffin, Zykan had a gun aimed at him, only inches away from his face.

"What the-!" Miko started, but she bolted out of the room as opposed to finishing her sentence, coming back in with Damien and Zykan's weapons. She threw Damien his katana and thought it best to keep Zykan unarmed, in case the girl in the coffin decided that him having a weapon wasn't a good thing, followed by shooting him in the face. Damien stuck his katana's blade straight down into the coffin, when the girl's hand dropped, Miko was afraid he'd killed her. She ran over to the coffin and saw the he'd landed it right next to her head, she was staring up at them blankly. Then she put the safety back on her gun and put it away, closing her eyes,

"touche." she said in an emotionless voice, Damien and Miko only stared, that was it? She was giving up that easily? Suddenly, she spoke up again, "I will shoot you if you cut any of my hair off. And I will also shoot you if you don't put the lid back on this box, right now."

"Um...I don't think I got your hair, and why do you want to be stuck in a box?"

"I deem that information private. Now put the lid back on." she said, Damien pulled his katana out of the coffin, stepping back a bit, Miko following suit.

"At least tell us your name." he said, silence followed, "how about we tell you our names first, then you tell us yours." then he jumped a bit when she flipped up out of the coffin, balancing on the side of it, looking them over. This was their first clear look at her as well, dark outfit, a cape, held on her by several buckles, the collar high enough to hide most of her face, a sloppily tied bandana of some kind, a gun, long, mahogany colored hair, victimized by the bandana, piercing and cold strangely colored eyes, and the part of her that got them the most, her left arm had been replaced by a metal arm and claw-like hand. All in all, she was quite the sight to try to figure out. She crouched down on the edge of the coffin, watching them closely.

"Well...?" she said, she'd been waiting the entire time they were gawking.

"Damien Cain."

"Miko Hoshii."

"Zykan. Just Zykan."

"And you?" Damien said, watching the girl, she then asked another question,

"Would you step closer to me a bit?" she sounded curious. The trio looked amongst themselves, shrugging. They walked back over by the side of the coffin, having freaked out and ran a short ways away from the girl when she'd made her sudden entrance. She was looking them over, Miko was just about to snap at her, Zykan was ready to walk away and Damien was about to ask what the hell she was doing when they noticed she'd stopped looking them over and was now just staring wide eyed.

"Are you ok?" Damien asked, contemplating whether or not he should reach out to her or not, she answered that for him, leaning forward, getting a good hold on the lid to her coffin, which had been leaning against the side of the coffin, and jumped backwards into the coffin, taking the lid with her and closing herself back up

"leave!" was all she said. Miko glared angrily at the coffin,

"what! That's cheap! Get back out here you little-" she started, but she was interrupted,

"Leave!" the girl snapped, sounding slightly more annoyed, Miko was probably going to annoy her into coming out of her coffin, even though she'd probably get shot.

"Miko, let's just leave her alone. We did interrupt her sleep in the first place, remember?" Damien said, Miko growled angrily stomping out of the room, Damien went on some kind of hunch and looked down at the coffin, "I have three more friends with me. If you're interested in meeting them, they'll be in here soon." he said, then he walked out of the room, Zykan following, telling him that he was too damned sentimental.

me pov

was that another nightmare? It felt so real. And that blade did leave a good sized hole next to my head here. They couldn't have been real though. They were another trick. Another trick of the mind that I came up with out of grief. Another nightmare. That's all it was...they're dead by now. They're a nightmare by now. What the! I can hear more voices coming. Girls, all of them...what's going to haunt me next?

normal pov

"He said she might still be awake. Who knows how stasis works." Skayr said, Bobby raised her hand, then rested it gently on the lid,

"The Cryogenic state can last way far after the machines and scientists that put some one into a state of sleep are gone. It tends to vary in length and severity though." she said, neither of her friends knew what she meant in the least.

"What do you mean?" Annakhin asked, the ball of light she'd made earlier was now floating above them, casting more light around the dark room.

"I mean sometimes, rarely but it has happened, someone will wake from their state of sleep and be brought back to the world around them. But, there's also length of sleep as well. After 'x' amount of time, the stasis, without a core unit, will begin to weaken, so, even if they're stuck in comatose sleep, they'll no longer be in suspended animation and they'll age, and inevitably starve to death if no one notices they're not in stasis in time." she explained, then she rested her other hand on the lid, "but, according to Miko, this thing, the coffin lid, had a sort of 'central unit' to it, keeping the sleep and suspended animation state strong for quite some time, she said this thing had a really old system, but it was still on task and working perfectly. Oh, and, another thing that Zykan mentioned, don't annoy her in any way, don't touch her, and if you want to try keeping a conversation going, don't step any closer to the coffin than probably a good two-and-a-half yards or so. Keep the light above the coffin like a spotlight sort of thing so she can't see you very well, and try to coax her goddam name out of her."

"Zykan said all that?" Annakhn said, letting the light float over the coffin and send down a beam like a spotlight over it.

"Pretty much. Miko said she'd just be kinda weird." Bobby said, then she shrugged, "but, that's Miko's opinion. I prefer to make my own. Skayr, come over her and stand next to me. Now on the count of three we flip the lid off of this thing and deal with this chick." Skayr nodded, then grabbed hold of the lid. "One...two...three!" they flipped the lid off of the coffin, then backed up fast, they would follow their friends' advice on all accounts, something in the back of Bobby's mind kept saying _"don't leave her here. She'll want to come. Don't leave without her."_ once they were back next to Annakhin, a good three yards away from the coffin, it seemed like a Jack-In-the-Box reaction, the girl sat bolt upright and went after her coffin lid, that forced them to come close, Bobby dove into the coffin to hold the girl down as she tried to get at Skayr, who was carrying the lid of the coffin across the room and dumping it there. "Not this time, Vampire Girl!" Bobby said, the girl stopped struggling completely right after the last word left Bobby's mouth. "What the...?" now she didn't know what to do, the girl she'd trapped inside a coffin was staring unblinkingly at her, tears streaming from her eyes and the color slowly draining from her face. "What did I–? Skayr, help. She's scaring me." the instant Skayr looked down at her, their new 'friend' started struggling again,

"who else is there!" she shrieked, Damien and company could be heard entering the room, Damien demanding an explanation to what he was seeing.

"We're getting information out of this little bitch whether she likes it or not." Skayr said, Zykan was watching Bobby's near failing attempts to subdue the girl.

"'Or not' apparently." he said, Damien moved over next to the coffin,

"if you calm down, we can work all this out and we'll leave." he assured her, no dice apparently, she just kept struggling, finally, she won.

"OW! Fuck!" Bobby cried, leaning away from the girl, nursing a wound on her arm, "dammit, where the hell did that come from!"

"You never got a good look at her apparently." Zykan said, "she has a gun and a metal left arm. So, though it's a little late to say so, watch out for her left hook." Bobby glared at him,

"very funny. The instant I get my boomerang back into my hands, I'm gonna-"

"Save it!" Damien interrupted. "We have other problems-whoa, no, no, no!" his turn to dive into the coffin, this time to wrestle a gun away from her. He chucked the gun to Bobby, "here. Play." then he noticed the wound she'd been nursing, caused by the same claw-like hand that he was some how managing to hold down without being stabbed or cut. "Annakhin, can you help Bobby with her arm?" he said.

"Ok." the petit girl said, walking over by Bobby to take a look at the damage, seeing her face, the last member of the group, made the girl in the coffin close her eyes tightly and lay perfectly still, breathing raggedly, finally, she calmed down, but kept her gaze away from the group above her, she decided the side of the coffin was more interesting to look at.

"What do you want?" she asked, sounding somewhat defeated. Now none of them knew what to do. They'd wrestled her out of a state of sleep that had lasted for an unknown amount of time. Damien sighed, then he got up out of the coffin,

"we want to know a couple things. And with your close placement to the room next-door, maybe you can give us some answers."

"What answers are you looking for?" the girl asked, now perched on the edge of her coffin, crouched down, possibly to gain a more comfortable position. "I only know so much about this place. I didn't spend much conscious time here." she said, suddenly jumping forward off of her coffin. She was now standing in front of Bobby watching her expectantly. "May I have my gun back? If you don't mind that is." she said, the other girl just held the item out to her, she took it away from Bobby rather quickly, putting it away and walking away from Bobby, perching on her coffin again, "now, what did you want?" she was looking from one group member to the next, repeatedly. Skayr narrowed her eye as she gave the girl a suspicious glance,

"why are you scrutinizing us so much? We're not items on show." she snapped. The girl closed her eyes and shook her head sadly,

"if you knew, you'd understand." she said, then she fixed her gaze on Damien, he'd started this mess, she hoped he'd be able to make this quick and then leave her to her nightmares. "What did you want to know?"

"Well, the room next-door, it's some kind of laboratory, right? I mean, you knew there was a room next-door, didn't you?" he said, sounding slightly nervous, still under the girl's intense stare. She let out a small laugh.

"That hell-hole made it through all of the years I must have been asleep? Amazing!" she's getting too damned accurate with this game. She knows that reality and video games are different from each other, right? 

"um...yes?" Damien tried, the girl cocked her head to the side a bit,

"yes, before I was trapped here in stasis, there was a lab next to this room. The last I saw of it, there were books, jars of who knows what, broken containment tubes, and a lab table." she was going off of a hunch, and if it was wrong, they'd probably assume it had changed its equipment over the years. But she wasn't surprised when the group looked stunned, Damien nodded.

"You remember all that?" he said, then he shook head, "of course you do, you still remember everything from the time you were originally from. Right?"

"Some things I wish could be forgotten, but yes. I remember." she answered, they're gonna ask me something about what all went on here, aren't they? Then they'll ask about Nikki, I'll find out what they're doing here, what they want to know, then leave them guessing and shut myself in my box again. I know how Vincent felt now...I know what kind of pain is coming. Should I just eliminate the middle man and shut the box? Oy! He's talking! 

"well, whose lab was that? And, better yet, how long have you been down here?" Damien asked, the girl gave him a flat look.

"I don't know how long I've been down here. I didn't keep a calendar." she said, several of the girls laughed, then, Zykan pointed to the lid, which still sat across the room,

"maybe that thing has some sort of record log on it." he said,

"worth a try." Bobby said, she walked across the room and started tinkering with the lid. While she was working on that, Damien was talking to the girl from the coffin.

"Well, why were you locked up?" he asked, he'd tried several other questions in hopes of getting something out of the girl, but she wasn't cooperating.

"What information did you want? The lab's history? I can only tell you my part. It was a genetic mutations lab. A scientist that loved to play God added and removed parts on a human, experimented with the entire DNA system. The result was a monster." she said.

"You're talking about yourself, aren't you?" Damien said, she closed her eyes, straightening up.

"How human do I look?" she asked, "my body is warped, as are my genetic and DNA codes. What, in any of that, sounds human to you?" there was silence after that for several minutes. Then she lowered herself into her crouched position again, "do you understand what I meant, now?" she said, her voice had remained perfectly steady and she was completely null-and-void of any emotion.

"But, that still doesn't make you a monster. The kind of creature you're talking about would have attacked us by now, right?" Annakhin said, the girl was looking at her curiously, "you haven't done a thing to make you seem like a monster. You're still human at heart."

"That is something I wish could be removed." the girl said, "humans ache, they mourn, they remember. I want to forget." she looked back at Damien, "anything else?" they were interrupted by Bobby.

"Holy shit!" she cried from across the room, the group ran over by her, the girl stayed near her coffin, standing at the head of it, watching the group, remembering when that was real to her, one-hundred percent real. But the conversation she could hear made everything around her far more real than it had been since she'd woken up,

"What? What is it?" Miko said, Bobby pointed to the screen she found,

"look at this girl's stats. Name: Azuril Noir Raine, Age When Frozen: 27..."

27? That bitch found a way to change my age! Oh wait, that's right. Vincent's 27. I forgot. the girl thought, rolling her eyes at her own stupidity on that one.

"...Known to have slightly psychotic tendencies, a fast temper and a razor sharp tongue." Bobby continued, "but, here's the best part. Birth Date: August 29, 1988."

"Holy shit!" Zykan and Damien both cried at the same time, Miko was just staring, Skayr was counting something on her fingers, and Annakhin was shaking her head a bit,

"that's not possible. This thing can't be that old. There's no possible way." she said. Bobby shrugged a bit,

"I guess it can happen and it has." she said,

"the 19 hundreds, whoa!" Zykan said, "we should put her in a museum."

"She's not an antique, fool. She's alive. Though, that age does frighten me slightly as well." Skayr said. She finished whatever it was she was counting on her fingers, then looked at Bobby, "tell me if I've gotten this right. If she was twenty seven when she was first put into stasis, and those dates and times are all correct, then that would make her about 1027 years old?" Bobby looked thoughtful for a second, Zykan and Miko were looking over their shoulders at the girl across the room form them, whose eyes had widened considerably, she looked stuck stiff from shock,

"um, guys," Zykan said, poking at Damien,

"cut it out." Damien said, swatting at Zykan's hand,

"no, you should-guys..." Miko said, the girl was teetering a bit, "uh-oh."

"Yeah, that should be right." Bobby said, "1027 or in that area somewhere."

"Timber!" Zykan said, he and Miko had been watching as the girl teetered more and more, and finally fallen over with Bobby's confirming Skayr's math. The entire group was now staring across the room, the girl had been standing there a second ago, where was she now? Zykan smacked Damien on the head, "I tried to get your attention, dammit, and this is why!" Miko had pulled a similar stunt on Bobby and Skayr, snapping at them for not even stealing a glance back where she was frantically pointing to. Annakhin gave a small bow,

"sorry. We'll listen next time." she said, Miko huffed, Zykan was up on the ceiling, avoiding Damien.

"Damn you, ya little freak, get down here!" Damien snapped, Zykan shook his head.

"What the hell kind of idiot do you take me for, Damien! Like hell I'll come down!" he shot back, "oh, yeah, and our creepy new friend passed out when she heard her age. She's in the coffin, out cold." Damien stopped moving, then he looked over at the coffin, walking up to it and looking down at the girl, who had, in fact, fainted.

"Oops." Bobby said. Zykan landed on his feet next to her, making her jump a bit.

"Now I know why they say 'never ask a woman her age'. Hearing it might make her faint." he said, Bobby glared,

"ha, ha, cool boy." she said, he stuck his tongue out at her, for that, she gave him the bird, this let to the pair trying to one up each other in a swearing match. The entire thing ended, this time not with Damien's intervention, but by Miko's hand. She walked over to the pair, got a good grip on their heads and knocked them together. She then stepped back a bit, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at the pair as they rubbed there poor abused heads, glaring at her.

"If you two are finished acting like little kids, we can go." she said, Bobby, still rubbing her head, looked at the coffin,

"what about her? After all that, should we just leave her?" she asked, remembering the strange thought from earlier. don't leave without her, huh? Well, I'll full-fill that goal whether Damien stays uninjured or not. she thought, going outside the room for a second, coming back in with her boomerang, she might need it. Zykan went to get his scythe, just out of sudden paranoia of it being taken. There seemed to be something special about that scythe that he dragged everywhere, no one else even thought of touching it, they hadn't made out their Wills properly yet. There was also something about a bracelet that Annakhin wore, Zykan didn't like it much, oddly enough, if ever she got up the resolve to tell or ask him to do something, whether grudgingly or otherwise in attitude about it, he'd do it. No one asked questions, they couldn't figure out any to ask either of them. Skayr grabbed Damien's katana and tossed it to him.

"I really hope you're not expecting me to use this." he said, giving the girl a skeptical look, she smacked herself on the forehead,

"oh, boy...no. I was just giving it to you now because you know damn well that you'll forget it and we'll have to pick it up for you." she said, Damien looked around the room as though he had no idea what she was talking about.

"What about the girl?" Miko said, getting them back on track. "Bobby's right, after everything we just put her through, is it right to leave her here?"

"I think we should bring her with." Annakhin said, Bobby and Miko nodded their agreement. Zykan shrugged,

"I don't care either way, but, if we bring her with, tell her she can't try to shoot me anymore." he said, pointing down at the girl as he said the last part.

"No guarantees. Skayr, what do you think?" Damien said, looking at the blond in question, she crossed her arms over her chest,

"do what you want." she said, Damien grinned, he knew she'd say yes, she was getting easier for him to read. He'd only met her several weeks ago and she was a difficult one to figure out. But he was getting there.

"Alright. It's unanimous, one of you do some quick thinking as to what we tell her when she wakes up." he said, they all put their brains to work. "Well, she practically told us she wanted revenge. But, we don't know who she wants to go after, or why she wants them dead." Damien said after a while. Bobby spoke up next,

"I'm guessing she wants the persons who experimented on her dead for doing so." she said, Skayr looked at Bobby,

"But, remember what she said earlier, about if we knew why she kept staring at us we'd understand?" she said, "maybe it's not just herself she wants revenge for."

"You're absolutely right." the girl said suddenly, everyone jumped back a bit from the sudden surprise, then went back to their original spots, looking down at the girl, who looked like she'd fallen unconscious again, but proving that wrong by speaking up again, "that's all exactly right." she said, then she looked around the group, eyes resting on the trio that had spoken up earlier, the three of them standing next to each other. "All of you were right. I want my revenge on the woman that did this to me. I want revenge for what she did to my body, my humanity, and for what she took away from me that hurts the most."

"She took someone special away from you, whoever she was, that's what happened, right?" Annakhin said, sounding sad already. The girl gave a short laugh, full of self loathing,

"Yes. She took someone special from me, only to trap me and turn me into this..." she faltered for a second, hate was the only thing that was slipping from behind her mask of indifference. "But, she didn't just take one person from me, though she hurt that person the most, she took everyone and everything that I had ever cared for or loved away from me. All of it. My life, my loved ones, and my humanity. So, yes. You are right. I wish for revenge. But, this was one thousand years ago, and it's impossible to go back to that time and kill her." she said, closing her eyes again, now, there was nothing again, her emotions were gone from her features, and her eyes when she opened them again. She looked at Damien, "what about you? Why are you wandering? What is your reason?" she asked. Damien's eyes darkened some in anger,

"I want revenge as well. My closest friends were killed right in front of my face, and I couldn't do a thing to stop it, so was my whole town. The worst part is, I thought the woman who had killed them loved me. But, I guess I was an idiot for thinking that. And I should have seen it. I should have listened when they told me to let go...I can't let her get away from me after what she did. So, no matter what, I'm going to find her, and kill her."

"A noble cause indeed." the girl said, none of them could tell whether that was sarcasm or seriousness. Miko stepped up,

"I want revenge too. On the same woman that Damien's after. She killed my best friend, all of my friends, and the entire town Damien and I grew up in. She can't get away with that. I won't let her." she said, the girl nodded, showing that she'd heard and understood the girl.

"My family was taken from me by that same damned woman." Skayr said, "no one does something like that and lives. I plan on finding her and killing her, as slowly and painfully as possible."

"Again, very admirable and noble, all of you." the girl said, then she sat up, looking at Bobby, Zykan and Annakhin, "and you three? What keeps you with them?" she said, waiting to hear more about revenge, but her brain started doing some processing, oh, no! Anna's Aeris! Why didn't I see all this before! That bitch planned ahead! She knew all of this would happen! Anna's Aeris, Lizz is Tifa, Jessi's Cid, Genevieve, if it can be called her, is Cloud, I'm Vincent and Lisa's either Barret or Nanaki, the latter seems more appropriate...then, that must be Noah, but, what character is he? Well, I'll have plenty of time to figure it out. After all, Vincent joins the crew in the end. 

"I just thought it might be fun. Dangerous, I know, but I'm still having a lot of fun." Annakhin said.

that's what I was afraid you'd say...Aeris said that same thing too. 

"I just kinda felt like it. I'll do what ever I god damn please." Zykan said. The girl rolled her eyes,

Yuffie. 

"it sounded like a good time. What else can I say? Plus if Skayr goes, me too, I promised to help her." Booby said, confused when the girl seemed to falter again for a second.

"Who is this woman that you're so hell-bent on killing?" their nameless friend asked,

"her name is Angela." Damien said, taking a step back when the girl shot to her feet,

"anything else to her name?" she pressed.

"Seraf. Her last name's Seraf."

"And that is the woman that you are all after?"

"She experimented on my family, and me." Skayr said,

"she killed my best friend, destroyed my hometown with her screwed up experiments." Miko said,

"and you heard my story. And we know yours. Could you tell us your name?" Damien said, Zykan tilted his head to the side a bit,

"uh, dude, it was on the coffin lid, remember?" he said, Damien waved him off,

"I want to hear it from her. It'll at least make me feel a little more secure." he said, then he looked at the girl in question, "well?" she hesitated, then finally,

"Azuril. Azuril Noir Raine." she said, deciding to leave 'Katie Fiore' buried in her long-since-deserved grave. She wasn't the spastic, sarcastic, irritable, and fun loving girl she'd been one-thousand years ago. Now, she was 'Vincent Valentine'. And she'd act out her part. She took on last glace behind her as she left the basement, following the group that had found her, 'Hojo's lab' and the crypt that had held 'Vincent' were staying right there. And she'd leave those two places buried in their graves as well.

"_I tear my heart open, I sew myself shut  
My weakness is that I care too much  
And my scars remind me that the past is real  
I tear my heart open just to feel_

Drunk and I'm feeling down  
And I just wanna be alone  
I'm pissed cause you came around  
Why don't you just go home  
Cause you channel all your pain  
And I can't help you fix yourself  
You're making me insane  
All I can say is

I tear my heart open, I sew myself shut  
My weakness is that I care too much  
And our scars remind us that the past is real  
I tear my heart open just to feel

I tried to help you once  
Against my own advice  
I saw you going down  
But you never realized  
That you're drowning in the water  
So I offered you my hand  
Compassion's in my nature  
Tonight is our last stand

I tear my heart open, I sew myself shut  
My weakness is that I care too much  
And our scars remind us that the past is real  
I tear my heart open just to feel

_  
I'm drunk and I'm feeling down  
And I just wanna be alone  
You shouldn't ever come aroundWhy don't you just go home?  
Cause you're drowning in the water  
And I tried to grab your hand  
And I left my heart open  
But you didn't understand  
But you didn't understand  
Go fix yourself_

I can't help you fix yourself  
But at least I can say I tried  
I'm sorry but I gotta move on with my own life  
I can't help you fix yourself  
But at least I can say I tried  
I'm sorry but I gotta move on with my own life

I tear my heart open, I sew myself shut  
My weakness is that I care too much  
And our scars remind us that the past is real  
I tear my heart open just to feel 

_I tear my heart open, I sew myself shut  
My weakness is that I care too much  
And our scars remind us that the past is real  
I tear my heart open just to feel_"

---

Papa Roach; _Scars_; _Getting Away With Murder_


	4. ch 3 a new name for an old face

A New Name, for an Old Face

"'Azuril'...kinda a weird name." Zykan said as they walked away from the factory that had held quite a large part of history. Azuril gave him a sideways glance,

"I wouldn't know, it is my name after all." she said, still emotionless, even though the air around her seemed to hold a melancholy note to it. Zykan winced,

"sorry." he said, she had a gun, that had been pointed right at his face several times before they'd gotten out of the factory, he didn't like that fact much. Miko shook her head slowly, hiding her face behind her hands,

"what did I do to deserve him?" she moaned, Zykan catching her remark right away,

"hey, it's no picnic being around you either, sister!" he snapped, thus, an argument began, one that was ended by several shouted words from Damien. He turned to face forward again, Azuril came up next to him,

"tell me, what does this woman look like? And how old was she when she betrayed you?" she asked, Damien gave her an odd look, but answered nonetheless.

"Black hair, dark clothes all the time, though I can't really go for that as evil..she had dark eyes and pale skin. I never asked her how old she was, but she looked to be around your age somewhere. Why? What's that got to do with anything?" but his questions weren't heard or registered by his new female friend, she'd stopped walking and was now standing stalk still, eyes wide

"that can't be possible." she said, the color draining from her face, "she would have died, hundreds of years ago." she looked at Damien, "is that all true?" she asked, "is that description true?" now Damien felt put on the spot,

"yes. It's all true. Why would I lie about something that's as important to me as this is?" he said, she was shaking her head,

"that can't be true. That's how she looked when she did this to me." she said.

"Maybe she managed to put herself into a state of suspended animation, then someone woke her up, just like you." Bobby suggested. Azuril stole a glance over her shoulder to look at Bobby.

"I suppose it could that...but who would wake her?" now even her mental game guide was confused, Hojo never pulled any stunts like that. And who would wake him if he froze himself anyway? Unless you count, at a long shot, the Turks or Rufus Shinra...but, again, I highly doubt that's the case here. So what is it...?the only other thing I can think of is-holy shit no way. Please let me being going senile. At an even longer shot than the Turks and Rufus, Sephiroth might have found some kind of way, or purpose to bring Hojo out of the state of suspended animation...but this is all just goddam theorizing. That couldn't possible be the case here. No Sephrioths have popped up yet. Yet...I hate that word. 

"Hey, Azuril? Azuril–are you ok? You spaced out and nearly walked straight into a tree." Damien said, he was standing between her and a rather large tree, they were still a good distance away from the tree, but he'd caught her right away. "What's up? You looked like your brain had left you somewhere along the line." he asked, leading the still dazed girl back over to the group.

"Nothing. It wasn't anything important." liar. she told herself automatically. Somehow, that led to a comment about her talking to herself in her own head, and that reminded her of something else... BD...Aken...they're gone. She took that part of me too. But, I wonder...if I'm Vincent, then does that mean that I can turn into the same creatures that he can? Is that why she took my two other selves away? Because one hazardous ability is bad enough to control, why leave me with three? Why take the two I know the best, and can work with the best? She had no right to take them. Or hide them. I will rescue them, or avenge them, when I find that woman. I swear it, I will. 

Damien just watched the emotions finally break through for a second in her face, grieve, sorrow, mourning, some curiosity, anger, and finally determination, then they were hidden behind her emotionless facade again.

Ok, if she used my friends and cousin as the cast for this shit-stunt, then, she's Hojo. We have Cloud and company, but, no Shinra, no Turks, and most of all, no Sephiroth. Me thinks she be gettin lazy. Either that or the best is yet to come-there goes that word again...'yet'. Azuril thought as she toyed with her gun, she was thinking back to when Bobby had been playing with it back in the crypt, and how much it had looked exactly like Jessi. I just need to remember that these people aren't my friends. They're not my friends or family, they're all players in that bitch's game. Just like I am. They're not who they seem to be...just remember that... she snapped back to attention, nearly dropping her gun, when Skayr snapped her fingers in front of her face a couple times,

"wake up, Vampire Girl." she said in a voice that, though she hated to admit that she remembered this before anything else, reminded her of a character from a TV show that was most likely dead and gone by now,

she sounds like Hiei... Azuril thought as she looked around for a second, trying to figure out what Skayr had wanted her to see. Bobby put her hands on the other girl's shoulders and turned her to face where Damien stood,

"sorry if I broke a 'no touching' rule or something, but, we were getting worried after you just kind of froze and didn't move for a bit." she said, then she walked away from the stunned girl, Jessi used to do that same kind of thing in situations that were, in some way, similar to that. Were they trying to make her break down? Her brain was processing things differently now, she was looking at Damien, hearing the words he was saying, but trying with all her might to stop her mind from attempting to go into auto pilot.

"Azuril!" Zykan snapped loudly, said girl nearly jumped out of her skin from the sudden shock that gave her, "geez, woman, did we leave your brain in stasis back in that basement or something!" he said, then he faced front again. Every now and then, one, if not more, of her new travel companions, not friends, traveling companions, allies maybe, but not friends, never friends, she wouldn't allow that, would look back over their shoulder at her, as if they were making sure she hadn't bailed on them. She contemplated that one a bit, but, opted for staying with them for a while. If her mind couldn't stand it, she'd either shoot herself, or diaper. She was just about to engross herself in her own thoughts again when Bobby appeared next to her.

"Hey, you don't need to act so distant and melancholy all the time, you know that, right?" she said, Azuril only nodded, but she didn't truly listen to the words, no form of attachment meant no form of attachment, and ,to her, advice counted as getting involved in the group. she kept up being sad, mournful and vengeful. It was just who she was now. She realized that, with a slight ting of shock, she wasn't pretending to be Vincent for the sake of the play anymore, she was just acting as she felt she should, this new and sad way of thinking and acting was coming as a natural thing for her suddenly, and that frightened her.

There was a town near the factory they'd left behind, it was easy enough to get to, but now came the problem of finding some place to stay.

"Well, this'll be fun." Miko commented. Zykan opened his mouth to respond with a snide remark, but thought better of it and closed his mouth, taking a quick glance over his shoulder noting Damien watching the pair carefully, waiting to yell at them, the chance never came and he gave a relieved sigh.

"Ok, let's get this planned out and figured out." Damien said, everyone, now, even Azuril, was listening to him. He noted the fully awake look on Azuril's face and grinned inwardly at the fact that she wasn't spaced out or off on the other side of the town. "Ok, Miko, you, Annakhin and Zykan-"

"you hate me, don't you!" Zykan cried, "why her what did I do!"

"Cool your jets, Spaz-boy." Bobby said quickly, people were staring enough already, the last thing the miss-matched group needed was a fight to attract more spectators. Her mediating stopped when she felt something tugging at her boomerang, she turned around and found a few kids had been yanking at it, "beat it." she said, then she turned back around and tried to keep the peace while Skayr and Azuril wrestled Damien's katana away from him and held him back to the best of their abilities,

"don't kill them, they'll stop, Bobby can make them and you know it!" Annakhin said frantically, then a series of noises that they would never allow any of the trio engrossed in bickering and attempted mediating live down. Several loud strings of swear words were heard, then a few loud 'THWOK's followed by more curing, a few more good smacking noises, then Bobby screaming at a bunch of small children who were rubbing their heads where Bobby had hit them. shortly after the hold on Damien dropped and the group was yanking Bobby away from attempting to beat the children with her boomerang again once she'd finished an unwanted game of tug-of-war with the children.

"Bobby, they're children! They probably didn't know what they were doing! Come on, cool it!" Damien cried, yanking hard on Bobby's right arm, finally getting the boomerang away from her. The group realized something else was amiss when they found no children in front of them, Annakhin picked up the boomerang, already carrying Damien's katana, and pointed behind them, they turned around to see the children, plus several more, ages ranging from kindergarten to at least second grade areas, swarming around Zykan and Azuril. Azuril, though she still hated children, just as she had one thousand years ago, stood perfectly still allowing the children to tug and grab at her cape, mainly, they seemed to like trying to unintentionally choke her to death the most, and, though it was extremely difficult not to pull away and leave Zykan stranded, allowed some to poke at or just grab at, her left arm and hand, she pulled up a bit every time they pulled a little too much. Other wise, she stood perfectly still, chanting 'think happy thoughts' over and over again in her head. Zykan, on the other hand, was holding his scythe up above his head as though it might melt if the children touched it, for all he knew it might, he'd never dealt with children before, he looked from one child to the next repeatedly, not moving from his spot, this being the result of paranoia and nervousness, not toleration like Azuril, who was still being poked and prodded, though now she had her left arm up over her chest, away from the children.

"Poke someone, did we?" he teased, she shook her head,

"one more time pulling at this thing and I was afraid it might come off." she said, "that is something I would prefer not to deal with." she said, it still surprised him that, no matter what it would be, she stayed perfectly emotionless while saying it. Even now, when he knew she wanted nothing more than to shoot down all of the damn kids attacking them, she stood still and stoic as normal, tolerating it. He looked away from her when he felt one of the kids yanking at his long, slightly too big for him, black robe, the hood of which up over his head, the fact that his wardrobe consisted of boots, a black, sleeveless tunic that stopped at his knees, and a large variety of charms and tattoos, didn't help in trying to keep himself put together properly, while keeping his scythe away from the children. Finally, he yank his robe away from one of the children that had managed to pull it off of him, slinging it over his shoulders to cover his tattoos,

"what the hell do you want from me!" he cried, "Damien!" he cried frantically, "help!"

"Ah, shit!" Damien snapped, getting over to where the pair stood as quickly as he could. The rest of the group joined them in trying to shoo the children away from them. A strangled cry from Azuril followed by a gun shot snapped them away from the children. They all looked at each other,

"she didn't." Bobby said,

"she wouldn't." Annakhin added, the rest of the group turned around to see one of the older kids had finally found Azuril's gun, which he was holding limply staring ahead of him in shock.

"He's ok, what a relief." Miko said, kneeling down by the boy and slowly taking the gun from him, then she froze, "but, if she...Damien, where is she!" she cried, looking at the blond, who had already found the girl in question, Bobby was kneeling next to him.

"How bad is it?" Skayr asked as she, Annakhin and Zykan quickly joined the group, Zykan pulling himself back together, and hastily putting the robe on.

"Not too bad." Bobby said, "the kid must have gotten the gun, played with it a bit, then she must have noticed when she heard the safety. She went after him and he either got scared or tensed as a reflex. Either way, she rescued the kid, and I think all the others. I didn't know someone that had just found her way out of a millennium's worth of sleep and acted so detached could have a spirt of panic, for a kid she didn't know."

"So," Miko finally joined them, people were gathering as well, several ran off right away, the group hoped for a doctor. "The kid got her gun, played with it, accidently clicked the right things on it so that it'd go 'bang' if he pulled the trigger, the noises from that got her attention and she went after him, thus her getting shot with her own gun. Right?" she summed up, hoping she'd heard Bobby correctly. Bobby nodded, then stole a glance over at Damien,

"we're making it sound like she's dead. She'll be alright, her left arm'll just have a few more scars." she shook her head in exasperation when she heard him sigh in relief, "Zykan's right. You are too damned sentimental." she said, Zykan caught the remark and gave Damien and Miko, who stood behind Damien, a haughty grin, Miko flipped him off and Damien blew a raspberry. Skayr knelt down across from Bobby, looking down at Azuril, who was biting her bottom lip hard and gripping at her shoulder, and the fact that she was lying on her left side, facing Bobby, Miko and Damien must have added some extra pain. Bobby reached out to touch the other girl's shoulder, "roll over onto your back so I can see the wound, I at least want to know if the bullet's still lodged in there." Azuril shook her head,

"no. just–just wait for the doctor." she said. No sooner had she said that when several men ran over to them, one knelt down and looked at the injury from the lying down position Azuril seemed bent on keeping herself in. That was foiled when she was easily picked up off the ground and carried into the small 'hospital' the town had to offer, by Bobby of all people, who was mumbling incoherently to herself as she did so, then, the comment that made Miko smack Zykan over the head for saying it was made,

"Damn, I hadn't noticed how long her legs were til now." he said. Then Damien could be heard growling angrily at the entire situation and dragging Miko and Zykan into the hospital, leaving Skayr and Annakhin following somewhat nervously.

"What's up, doc?" Zykan asked Bobby, she was sitting in a chair outside of a closed off room, they'd dragged a half conscious Azuril in to the room, then closed the door.

"Hell, I don't know. They dragged her in and haven't dragged her out yet." the girl said, she'd found a pack of matches in her coat pocket and was lighting them, letting them burn down to near her fingers, then dropping them into a glass of water that sat on a table next to her. Said glass was already littered by matches.

"Pyro." Zykan said, Bobby would have responded, but the door to the room next to her opened instead. The doctor and several other men walked out, whose blood they were partly covered in was a mystery that would remain unsolved.

"She's...an interesting one." the doctor said, sounding completely spent, "she'll be fine. She just needs to take it easy for a while."

"Thanks, doc." Miko said, the party was crashed by Annakhin,

"how much do we owe you for this?" she asked. The doctor looked thoughtful, then he turned and looked back inside the room he'd just left, then he looked at the group again,

"nothing. Your friend made a huge sacrifice. That's more than enough." then he walked away from them, most likely to dress his own wounds. They watched him walk away, then went into the room where Azuril was supposed to be. Sure enough, there she was, out cold on a bed in a room on the other side of the operating room. Once they were at their friend's bedside, Damien looked at Azuril, apparently thinking on something, finally he spoke up,

"we'll stay here until she's strong enough to get around properly. Then we'll keep going."

"But, how do we care for the wound while traveling?" Skayr asked, Damien shrugged slightly,

"we buy supplies here, like we always do. And have a doctor check on it every time we hit a town." he said, then Bobby brought up another point,

"we still haven't figured out where we can stay over night in this place." she said, they were back to square one. Then, as if right on cue, a woman and the boy who had accidently shot Azuril walked in, Bobby went back through the operation room out to the front room of the hospital, she talked with the woman for a bit, then ran back over to her friends, "good news bad news time!" she said, the rest of the group just stared at her. "Ok, that woman that just walked in, she's the mother of the kid who got to the gun. She said we could stay in a guest house she had near her own house, free of charge." she said enthusiastically.

"And the bad news?" Annakhin asked, Bobby sagged visibly,

"we still have to buy all our own food and supplies and stuff. She said , if necessary, she'd try to help with any medical items, but she can't afford to feed both us and her family."

"We'll worry about the food when we get our appetites back. Until then, let's cart her over to that guest house." Damien said, pointing at Azuril as he said that last bit.

"Right." Miko said, she helped Damien pick the unconscious girl up off the bed, then left carrying her to Damien. "She's really, really light." Miko said, raising an eyebrow as she looked at Azuril, who was still blissfully out cold.

"She needs to eat more. A lot more." Bobby said with a 'huff'.

"whatever, ladies. Let's just get to that guest house before she does start to feel really heavy." Damien said, leading the way out of the hospital.

"_Ring around the rosy..."_

...what...? 

"_a pocket full of posies..."_

what the hell...? what is that? 

"_ashes, ashes..."_

Why do I hear that song? What is this! 

"_they all fall down..."_

Azuril sat bolt upright with a cry of what was it? Surprise? Shock? Fear? Then pain stabbed her in the shoulder, she fell back down entirely, clutching her shoulder,

"what--what was that! That song..." her breaths were coming fast and short and a sick, cold feeling was starting from her shoulder and moving all through her body. She could distantly hear someone yelling, but she found herself some place out of reality. She knew right away where she was, some place that had been forced down so hard that it to all of her body's spirit to keep buried, that guard dropped when the pain hit. She could find this place again. And she never wanted to leave. Scenery like an intricate, and beautiful flower garden in a small courtyard, but no buildings anywhere in sight. Now, since she had eyes she hadn't before, she could see how vibrant and beautiful all of the colors were around her. Then she remembered why she'd come. She went off of memory and reached out in front of her, as though to grab something, which she seemed to. A door was heard opening as she moved her and in a charade of an opening door, then she walked forward and disappeared into the room behind the door. The stone corridor that awaited her was different than what she remembered it to be. Normally, at least, a few candles lit the hall, now there was no light. And the part that terrified her was what she saw next. Nothing. Nothing else lined the walls, no other doors, nothing, as thought someone had robbed her mind while she slept. "She really did take them. They're gone. They're..."

"_Azuril!"_ a voice that was so far away she almost missed it called, she stopped her motions toward opening the door she'd come through and looked around.

"Who...?" she started, looking around a bit.

"_Azuril!"_ the voice yelled again, louder this time, as though it was coming her way, the only problem was she was fading out of the corridor and back to reality,

"no...!" she cried as she finally lost sight of the corridor and the garden. When her vision focused again, she found herself staring up into a pair of concerned blue eyes, "what happened? Where am I?" she asked tiredly, sitting up, Annakhin backing away from the bed.

"You're in a guest house next to the home of the boy who got your gun. His mother said that letting us lodge here was part of her apology." she explained. Azuril looked at her with a certain degree of concern in her eyes.

"The boy, he wasn't hurt, was he?" she asked, Annakhin shook her head,

"no, he's fine, I think slightly mentally damaged but physically fine. A few other people came here to apologize for any damage done to you. The people in this town really are nice. They also brought some food and medical supplies, we brought some food in here for you, but we didn't know whether you'd want it when you woke up or not." she said, Azuril gave a detached nod, emotions dying from her features again.

"I'm not hungry, maybe I'll eat later." she said. She still had that song stuck in her head, why it was there, she didn't know.

"Alright. I'll leave you alone for now. Someone will come and check on you later." she said, then she left the room. Azuril watched the door close behind the other girl, then looked at the food that had been brought to her, then she laid back down, closing her eyes and humming the song she'd heard repeatedly.

Why am I so stuck on that song? What could possibly possess my mind to think of that song before anything else? "_Ring around the rosy,_" she started to sing softly and sadly, making it sound more like a lullaby. "_A pocket full of posies,_" Bobby was leaning again the door frame, arms folded over her chest and a half-smile on her face as she watched her stoic friend unwinding, "_Ashes, ashes, they all fall down._" Azuril finished, lying still for a second, then she sat up straight again, yelped and grabbed her shoulder then caught herself before she fell back down, and dawned a look of realization, "BD!" she cried, Bobby looked completely lost as she walked into the room, standing next to her friend's bed. "BD! The song! It's her!" finally, Bobby couldn't take it anymore,

"who's BD?" she asked. Azuril looked at her,

"a friend. That song was about her. It took me so long to realize that." she said, "then she must have been the one I heard singing it. She's alright! But, what about..." her joy faded, "what about him...?" Bobby was about to ask what she was talking about but Zykan cut her off,

"nutter. I told you that from the beginning, Damien, but, you said 'let's keep her' and dragged her ass outta that basement." the girls looked towards the door, Zykan was coached on the wall by the door, reminding both Azuril and Bobby of a reptile of some kind with his position, he glared at them, "what are you staring at, Vampire Girl!" he snapped. Azuril gave him a miffed glare, then looked calmly up at Bobby,

"where did you put my gun?" she asked casually, grinning inwardly when she heard Zykan swallow audibly and skitter higher up on the wall, away from her more. She could hear Bobby snickering, and finally, she set her eyes on the doorway, where Damien stood, arms folded over his chest and an amused smirk on his face, "how long have I been asleep?" she asked him, he shrugged.

"I dunno, I think around to or three hours max. nothing big." he said.

"Yeah, nothing like one thousand years or anything in that area." Zykan said with a smirk, then eh jumped up onto the ceiling to get away from a fork that was now lodged in the wall where he'd been sitting a second earlier, "dammit! You're scary!" he glared down at Azuril, who was looking up at him still void of an emotions, she was holding the knife that had been left next to her plate of food, the fork from it was already on hiatus.

"Calm down, you two. Azuril, quit throwing silverware, Zykan, quit being an ass. There. Now that that's all done and over with..." Damien said, yanking the fork out of the wall, and pausing once he'd the bedside table, setting it down on the untouched plate. Azuril set the knife down shortly after. "The doctor said it may be a few weeks before you can function properly with that injury still there. We're staying here for those several weeks. I'm begging you," he said, faking a pitiful face and tone, "please, just stay in that damned bed and don't sneak out at all. Please, for the love of God, please, just do me that one favor." Azuril nodded slowly after a second,

"fine, I will stay put. You already know me too well." she said, raising an eyebrow as she watched him, he looked around the room for a second, whether out of embarrassment of some kind when that last statement was made, or because he had nothing more to say but didn't feel like leaving yet. Azuril grinned at that notion, slightly amused by it. She'd done that a lot when she was still truly alive. That was another nasty habit she found herself forming, she'd started to think of herself as, in a way, undead. She'd died the moment she was first altered back in the time she'd come from, and she'd done so again upon leaving that crypt. She was silently wondering what horrible and sickening twist 'Dr. Hojo' had in store for her next. She was also silently fearing the fact that there might be an answer to her musings. Damien interrupted her thoughts,

"I only know you too well because, in a way, you're a lot like me." he said, sounding both serious and slightly nervous, Azuril was praying to every god she remembered the name of that it wasn't nervousness caused by infatuations, she'd climb right back into her coffin if it was an infatuation, the thought of someone who looked like a male version of one of her dearest friends having a crush on her almost made her pass out, it sounded weird just contemplating it. Damien must have either read her mind, picked up on something, or maybe she'd gone pale or something, because he stared wide eyed at her for a second, then started rapidly shaking his head and putting his hands up in either defense or a sign that he wasn't going to try to hit her,

"no, no, no, don't take it the wrong way or anything, I just-you act-geez!" he babbled, Bobby had lost it laughing a while ago and was now on the floor red in the face with a ting of blue there as well laughing so hard that she feared she'd never be able to breath properly again. There was a 'thump' like noise as Zykan fell off of the ceiling, landing on the foot of the bed first, then falling off of it onto the floor, also laughing his ass off. Azuril was looking from Zykan and Bobby back to a seething Damien, who was red in the face and yelling at his two friends to shut up, which only made them laugh harder. Now, Annakhin, Miko and Skayr were standing near the doorway watching Damien have a fit at Bobby and Zykan, who were both probably suffocating from all of their laughing.

"What happened?" Miko asked, staring wide eyed, Annakhin had an amused look on her face, Skayr just looked completely lost. The trio joined Azuril, Annakhin sitting on the bed, Miko standing at the head of the bed, arms folded over her chest, Skayr was crouched down on the ground like a cat, her head tilted to the side a bit. "I reiterate, what happened?" Miko repeated, stealing a glance at Azuril, who was watching the show with detached interest.

"Damien made a comment after I said something, then he panicked about it and started babbling and somewhat waving his arms and shaking his head, he didn't turn red until he watched Zykan fall off of the ceiling from laughing too hard, that's also when he noticed Bobby was laughing as well. Him telling them repeatedly to be quiet in the manner he is now is only instigating more trouble for him, though." Azuril recapped for them.

"Oh." Miko said, Annakhin was starting to laugh at Damien's growing frustration as well, Skayr was doing a pathetic job of trying to hide her laughter, Miko finally gave in and started laughing as well. Azuril was too busy looking around the room at all of them, she had to close her eyes for a second so she could calm herself, not from trying not to laugh, but from trying not to cry. Miko, Damien, Annakhin, Bobby, Skayr, Zykan...Lizz, Genevieve, Anna, Jessi, Lisa, Noah...why did this have to happen? What had she done to deserve this? Why was protecting someone she cared for so horrible it punishable by torment of this extreme kind? Angela would pay for this all very cruelly. Azuril's mind had already gone to work producing different ways she would exact her revenge.

you couldn't possibly hurt me anymore than you already have, you bitch. And so I will make you pay. 

Later that night, when the three girls watching the fray had decided to break it up and leave Azuril to herself for a bit, she sat playing with her gun, with Miko had been forced to give back to her, mulling over things in her mind. ok, we'll go through our mental check-list again, the Nikki clone, a.k.a. Angela Seraf, a.k.a. Dr. Hojo played far too much Final Fantasy VII and was probably smoking a heavy load of something...whatever it is, I wish she'd shared...and turned me into Vincent, then she locked me in a box, I stayed in said box for one thousand years, and now the reincarnations or something of all of my friends found me and I'm traveling around with them so I can slowly, cruelly and grotesquely kill her. My friends are gone, my family's gone, my life is gone, even two thirds of what I am has been taken from me. What else is there...?...nothing...I have nothing left for her to take. Nothing at all. she closed her eyes and fought the urge to cry back down again, that realization would never be easy to accept and she knew it, "Alright, we will try something else, how does all of this match up with the game?" she said aloud, looking at her gun, which was still being pulled apart and put back together. "Genevieve has been turned into Cloud, Lizz has been turned into Tifa, though I'm sure there are no matters of the heart involved in this relationship, I hope..." she twitched involuntarily at that notion, it was right up there with the whole thing with Damien earlier, this just kept getting more and more interesting every second. "Jessi, can only assume, has been turned into Cid. Lisa has been turned into, we will say, for the sake of argument, Nanaki. Noah has taken the role of either Cait Sith or Yuffie, or, seemingly, a combination of the two. That theory may be tested later if anyone else joins our rag-tag team–" she stopped, "'Our rag-tag team'? I have no place here, save for my revenge on the woman who killed me. No other connections. Just her." she told herself firmly, thought she found herself believing that rule less and less by the minute. "What was I thinking? Back to business. We lack someone to play the role of Barret, and we lack someone to play the role of either Cait Sith or Yuffie...but Aeris..." she early managed to catch the strong feeling of despair as it threatened tears, she swallowed the lump in her throat, "Anna...Anna is Aeris..." she bowed her head, letting her hair drape around her like a curtain, also allowing herself to finally cry, silently, no one was to see her cry, and if they did, they would not hear a noise from her. "One of my closest friends is destined to sacrifice everything, and leave me completely, again... What am I going to do? How can I protect her if I couldn't protect Genevieve, couldn't protect Lizz, any of them...and even myself...how am I supposed to protect her if I can't even protect myself?" she said pitifully, "what do I do now...?"

Damien and Annakhin stood on either side of the doorway, right outside the bed room Azuril was in, they both leaned back against the wall looking at the doorway, finally, Damien looked at Annakhin,

"what do you think all that meant?" he said, Annakhin shrugged,

"I'm not sure, maybe they're people from her time. But she sounded so broken when she mentioned the names 'Anna' and 'Aeris'...who do you think they were that they would have her so upset about them?" she said curiously, it was Damien's turn to shrug,

"your guess is as good as mine." then he looked into the room again, "but they must be important, if they have her crying like that...the worst part is we can't help her." he looked away from the room, covering his face with his hands for a second, then giving a raged sigh and letting them drop and hang at his sides limply. "We can't help her with something we know nothing about, and we can't help her because this is something she has to deal with on her own...I hate to say all that, I really do...but, we need to let her alone on it..." he stood up fully and started to walk away from the room, "I at least wish I knew who all of those people were. Half of those names sound like characters from a game or movie or something." he said. Annakhin watched him go, then looked, sadly, into the room Azuril was in again, the girl had her good hand up covering her mouth, possibly to stifle the whimpers that might come with her crying, her hair still draped like a curtain.

"Azuril," she said softly, going against what Damien had said, walking into the room, "what's wrong?" she asked softly, now standing at the bedside. The girl being addressed froze, not answering for a moment, most likely to compose herself,

"nothing." she said tensely. The smaller girl was actually slightly frightened by just the tone of voice that was used, but she stood her ground.

"Then why were you crying?" she asked, Azuril's head snapped up and she stared at Annakhin with some nervousness on her face,

"why were you watching? What did you hear?" she said, the girl being addressed jumped back a bit.

"Damien and I, we were standing outside your doorway, we heard you mention a list of names, and they all seemed to make you more and more sad with every one said." Azuril's eyes were widening more and more with each word said to her. "And the two names that you mentioned that made you start crying, we heard those too." Azuril looked dizzy, Annakhin feared she might faint, "but we won't tell anyone! We both promise. Damien isn't here to say so, but I know he'll keep them a secret. I promise." she said frantically, hoping to help the girl ease herself up a bit. Once that was done with, the reference to a game that Azuril had mentioned was brought up, that conversation didn't go too far, it consisted of a question and ten minutes of complete silence before Annakhin gave up and excused herself from the room. Azuril wanted nothing more than to see whether or not shooting herself in the head would kill her or not. But she had to play this game up until the end, she needed to win this one. Then she'd see if shooting herself would either kill her, or just hurt like hell.

"At least there isn't any possible way that this could get worse..." she said, then, as if right on cue, the window slid up and something started to slowly climb through, whatever it was, it had a gun pointed at its face when it righted itself. "You have two seconds to save yourself from getting your head blown off, tell me who the hell you are, or what the hell you are, then leave." Azuril snapped coldly, emotion gone again, ability to kill back in place. This would be the first time she'd actually kill something besides bugs. She vaguely wondered if she'd care after she pulled the trigger or not, she decided to wait and find out. The thing seemed scared witless, rolling up into a tiny little black ball, a large envelope sat next to it. Azuril blinked a bit in confusion, bending down and picking up both the envelope and the little black ball, then she left the room. "Damien!" she called, he was sitting by the front door, said door was propped open so he could look outside. He looked up at her quickly, having been startled when she'd suddenly called his name. "You know they make windows for this kind of thing, do you not?" she added, looking outside, slightly wary of any movements that she saw. The blond stood up kicking the doorstop out of the way and letting the door swing closed, locking it once it had closed all the way, then he gave her a look and sat down on the couch adjacent to the door.

"You're a funny one. You shouldn't be moving around yet." he said, she shrugged it off, that motion surprising him, wasn't her injury on her left shoulder? "Hey, didn't that hurt?" he asked, pointing at her. She stared blankly at him, "you shrugged. Isn't your shoulder where you got shot?" again, she shrugged it off. He gave up on it. "Ok, why'd you come out here? It couldn't have been just to say hi." he asked, then stared oddly at a small black ball she presented to him.

"Hold that and make sure it doesn't decide to run away." Azuril said, ignoring the completely lost look on Damien's face as he examined the ball. she opened the envelope, finding just what she thought she would, a nice little note from Angela.

_I hope you are enjoying the game thus far. I am aware of the fact that you are quite alone in mind, if it can be said that way. You must have noted the absence of your two little friends as well, they're not dead and gone, they are here with me. I'm sure they want you to finish the game just as much as I do._

_You may also have noticed some twists in the game's play. I assure you, they are for the better. Have you noticed the lack of characters in the game? Well, I'm sure the one you noticed first was Sephiroth's absence. I assure you there is a Sephiroth. If you want him, I shall release him. This time, I control him. I'm sure you'll love meeting your 'Sephiroth', it'll be quite a shocker for you._

_Give Damien a kiss for me._

_Adieu, my 'Vincent'_

_Dr. Hojo _

a low growl escaped the girl's throat as she crushed the paper when she clenched her fist tightly, she threw the paper aside and reigned in the urge to punch the wall out of fear she'd break it. Damien watched her for a second, rolling the ball around between his hands, until finally he spoke up,

"what did the note say? I think I can guess who it was from, so what did she say?" he asked, this time Azuril did hit the wall, it didn't break but cracked where she'd hit it. She hung there, fist still in the wall, head bowed, finally she spoke up,

"nothing that you would understand. Oh, she does send her love to you." she could sense his slight anger, can I blame him? He didn't quite lose as much as I did, but we're damned close. "Damien, I know that this will not change anything, but, I am sorry for your loses, and I hope you can find some peace after we've despatched this woman." the anger slowly died, nothing seemed to be there now. Did he leave, or was he just back to his normal calmer state?

"Thank you." he said quietly. Well, at least he hadn't left. She backed away from the wall and landed herself in a chair. She sighed heavily, then allowed herself to relax. Her friends and family, whatever had happened to them after she'd been locked away, were just as unreachable as Damien's friends, but she hoped they were all at peace. "What are you thinking about?" Damien asked suddenly. When she looked over at him he had his head tilted to the side sightly and a curious look in his eyes, "you looked completely gone for a second there and I was starting to get even more lost than I am now."

"How do you mean?" Azuril asked, raising an eyebrow curiously, slightly wary of him for reasons she figured she could pass of as instincts.

"Well, you always seem so distant from us all. And earlier, all of those names, and, just now, you looked like you were off in another world or something. I was just curious as to what it is you think about so much. Though that may sound kind of stupid, I guess." he said, still looking curious. She eyed him up one more time, then finally fully relaxed,

"my friends, my family, my time. I was just realizing some horrible similarities between you, my friends and another group of people that I know. I know I could, and probably should, tell you most of it, but I have a feeling that, if I do, _she_ will change the game." she said tiredly, closing her eyes, "when I met you, back in that crypt, for the first time, I only saw the faces from my nightmares staring back at me-only saw the faces of my friends staring back at me..." she opened one eye the slightest bit, looking at him tiredly, "my friends and family, they all looked, somewhat, like you and your friends-" Damien cut her off, glaring at her the slightest bit, looking slightly offended.

"'my friends'? You do a good job of making it sound like you don't care jack about us." he said, she closed her eye again, turning her head away from him,

"and if it's not an act? Then what?" she asked, all he did was stare, how could she not care? They'd helped her, kept her with them, taken care of her, and now she was saying she didn't care about them at all.

"Then I'd say one of two things; one thing I could say would be 'then haul ass outta here', and another could be 'then start caring.'. and I'm torn between the two." he said, then blinked a bit in confusion when she held out her hand towards him.

"Give me the ball, then tell me where all of my possessions are. Once I have those few things, I will leave you to your own device." she said, sounding slightly cold. screw this damn game. I'm not going through the plot line. I didn't stay awake to play. I'll find her, without help if necessary, get back what's mine, take revenge, then sleep. At least I'll have company this time. she thought, avoiding looking at Damien, for fear of seeing a hurt or angry expression on a face that looked so much like her past friend's. she did look up though when he never gave her the ball, "give it to me, Damien. If you wish me gone, then don't make this harder than it already is." she said, why didn't he just give her the damn ball? It was hers first anyway!

"No." was all he said. She stared in shock for a second, then calmed herself with the realization that someone with a will like his would be stubborn. She was going to get her ball back though...stubborn or not, she had no problem in possibly threatening his life, just because he looked like Genevieve didn't mean she had to care. Her friend was gone, forever, and just because she'd found a familiar face in a stranger, didn't mean she had to treat him like she had her old friend.

"You said I should leave, if that is the only option I have, then I will do so, once you give me that ball. It was mine from the beginning." she said, though she'd decided to hurt him if necessary, she was getting pissed and contemplating hurting him anyway, necessary or not.

"No. I can't give it to you." he said firmly, then added, having noticed the irritated look on the girl's face, "if I do, you'll go and get yourself killed. I can't have that hanging over my head if I let you go. You don't know anything about the world you've been dragged into and I can't let you just go die. So if the ball's what's keeping you here, whatever the hell it is, then I'm keeping it." now she just looked shocked, he sighed heavily, "even if you don't like us, or don't care at all or whatever, I'd never get over throwing you out all alone in a time and place that you don't know a thing about. So, you're stuck here, with me, and my friends, until I get tired of you or you kill me and take this damn ball, or whatever. Got it?" he was one-hundred percent serious on this, which shock Azuril even more, why keep her around if he knew she didn't care a thing for any of them? Then again...he had a point, she had no real idea of what might be out there, she only hoped her new life somewhat followed her old knowledge.

"Fine. Keep me as you please. But, you may want to be careful with that ball. It looks normal, but it-" the ball started to wriggle in Damien's hands, shaping itself into a worm-like shape, squirming and wriggling until it got away from, a now completely shocked, Damien, he jumped back out of shock, staring at the black worm as it made a break for it. Its escape was foiled, very abruptly, when Azuril shot it. "...is the messenger that brought me that envelope." she finished her earlier statement, watching as the creature reformed itself, got the hint, and rolled back into a ball, just sitting there on the floor. Azuril picked it up and tossed it to Damien, who fumbled with it for a second, still slightly afraid that it might try to escape again, but finally got a good hold on it again. Then he stared at her oddly,

"please don't tell me you shoot everything that annoys you, or attempts escape." he said, she shook her head, "good."

"If I did, you'd be dead by now." She commented, settling back into the chair, trying not to grin at the pale shade of skin, and slightly frightened look, on Damien's face. He pulled himself together and then raised an eyebrow, confused at something,

"why did you give it back to me?" he asked, she was the one that was confused now, he elaborated, "this thing." He held the ball up so she could see it, "why give it back when you know I'll just keep it, thus keeping you here?"

"Maybe I've grown fond of forced imprisonment over these last one-thousand years." she suggested, sarcasm was clearly there with that comment, though, as usual, it was not in the tone of voice she used. The only things he'd ever truly seen resembling emotions from her were anger and sadness, nothing else. That saddened him deeply, knowing that those were the only emotions strong enough to overcome her barrier of indifference. He wanted so badly to know why she would only allow those emotions through, and to know what thoughts could bring such pain. But, at this point, he figured that the only way he'd get an answer out of her would be trying to read her mind, which wasn't happening any time soon. For now, he could live with not knowing. Their conversation, if it can be called that, was interrupted by Zykan scrambling into the room, and hiding behind Damien,

"Make her stop!" he cried, Damien took on his usual role again, the annoyance from that fact clear on his face. Bobby bolted into the room, holding a wrench and dawning an irrate look on her face,

"where is that little shit! He ran in here, I saw him. Give him, Damien!" she shrieked, making Damien cringe from both the extreme tone and the volume of her voice, mostly the latter.

"What did he do this time, Bobby?" Damien asked, trying to coax her into putting the wrench down, she was too angry to be holding something that dangerous. Azuril looked away as quickly as she could, the instant she caught the slightest glimpse of Bobby, she'd grown used to Damien's resemblances, but the others would take a while, especially Bobby...

"ask the fucking hover-board I was fixing for that gun happy kid-!" then she noticed Azuril, "oops." confusion set in when Azuril stayed perfectly still, looking away from them, well, her head was turned away, her eyes were closed. "What's with her?" she asked, pointing to the girl. Damien looked at Azuril, then caught on right away.

"Let's take this out into the hall, what's say, guys." he said, shoving both a confused Bobby, and a nervous Zykan out into the hall, then he turned to look back at Azuril, "we'll be done with this in a minute, you can relax, she's gone." he assured her. She relaxed almost immediately,.

"thank you, Damien." she said, just above a whisper. He grinned, then went back out into the hall to start a shouting match with Bobby. I won't be able to go anywhere near that girl, or the girl resembling Lisa for quite some time. They're too much for my mind to deal with. she looked at the doorway, partly waiting for Damien to get back, she found she liked his company. He was calmer than the others, the only other person that was easy to be around was the girl that looked like Anna. Anna had always been an easy person to get along with, and this girl she saw now was just as nice. Something clicked inside her head, she didn't know who half of these people were! Damien, Miko and Zykan were the only names she knew. The others hadn't introduced themselves at all. She'd ask Damien when he came back, hopefully without company, if anyone else were to come in, she'd rather it be the girl that looked like Anna, and possibly Zykan, though he was almost nothing like Noah, she knew he was this world's version of him, and he acted far too much like she used to, seeing herself and someone she knew was an old friend at the same time wasn't really a thrilling thought. The more she thought about it, the more she realized Zykan might be a lot like Noah in a certain sense. She'd seen him on walls and even the ceiling, he carted that scythe everywhere he went, and his physical features were, in some senses, not completely human, his eyes were a dead give away, but, she had a feeling there was more to him than just that...

"What the hell are you screaming about, you ingrates!" the girl that looked like Lisa had joined the party outside now... after several seconds, she could hear a scream from the hall, it sounded like the girl with the wrench, then there was a heavy thud, then Damien swearing a blue streak. Followed by several more swearing fits from the Lisa and Jessi clones, she wondered where Zykan had gotten off to-she found out when he dropped silently off the ceiling next to her,

"Damn, I thought I was a goner." he muttered.

"What did you do to upset her so?" Azuril asked, making him jump a bit, he hadn't noticed her...

"I bumped something, it started the thing she was working on and sent parts flying everywhere, then she got mad and tried to bludgeon me to death with a wrench." he explained, she raised an eyebrow, that sounded like Jessi well enough.

"Where is your scythe?" she asked, she'd never once seen him without it, it looked kind of weird to see him with it gone. Apparently, he thought so too, spazing completely, then he jumped back up onto the ceiling and high-tailed it, most likely to find where he'd left his scythe. odd boy, that. Then again, who am I to talk? I'm stuck in a video game that I can't turn off. she was beginning to call it a game again, giving up, slowly, on calling it her new life. Finally, the closing shouts to the argument could be heard and Damien stalked back into the room, taking his spot on the couch and brooding, dragging the little black ball out of his pocket to roll it around like a 'worry ball'.

"I swear to God, those guys never quit!" He complained, though he had a right to complain, he had to deal with them. Azuril gave him exasperated smile, on the inside, she truly did pity him. Attitudes and personalities had changed throughout time. Where as Jessi would be the level-headed one of the group, now she was just as sporadic as the others, all of them, save Damien and the girl that looked like Anna, were all just like teenagers, thought she had a feeling they weren't. If she'd managed to turn twenty-seven, through science, then she was pretty sure that the rules were followed to the letter on the others' ages as well. Damien should be twenty-one, Anna's copy should be twenty-two, etcetera, etcetera...she hated the thought of being, what she was now pegging as, old. Vincent being one of the older characters, being twenty-seven, in the group, way older if you add on his years in stasis, that would make him fifty-seven, she knew that feeling perfectly well now. But, shit happens. Another odd thought passed through her head, Jessi's age. Not counting his years in stasis, Vincent was younger than Cid, who was in his early thirties. She quickly beat down the thought of laughing at that.

"Damien," she spoke up, looking at said boy, who didn't look away from tossing the ball around, but gave her a noise of acknowledgment. "I don't know who half of you friends are." he stopped playing with the ball and blinked a bit,

"oh. Oops." then he got up and ran out of the room.

uh-oh, he's going to bring them in, isn't he? Well, bite your tongue and bear it. thankfully, he only dragged one person in at a time, the girl that looked like Anna walked in and sat down on the couch next to the spot Damien had been occupying earlier. "That's Annakhin Stesia." Damien said, once he noticed that the smaller girl had entered the room. Then he turned back to talking to Miko for a second. Azuril nearly grinned, Zykan crawled in quietly, up on the ceiling and away from Miko, who seemed to always be ready to tick him off, and the girl that looked like Jessi, who probably still wanted his head on a platter. This time, he brought his scythe. He dropped down next to her again, eyeing up Annakhin for a second, seemingly wary of her. Curious... Finally, Miko walked into the room and leaned against the door Damien had propped open earlier. Zykan seemed to be wary of her too, probably because he didn't want any attention drawn towards him, for fear of being beaten to death with a wrench. Damien sat back down on the couch and picked up the ball again, tossing it between his hands, he felt it start to move a bit, then grinned when it froze at the sound of a safety on a gun being 'clicked'. The gun was 'un-clicked' and put away. the first of the two remaining people she didn't know walked in, still pissy from the yelling match, Azuril cringed, as though someone had hit her, her best friend stood before her, scarred and tattooed in places, slightly tanned, and scowling, but otherwise, she was Lisa... "sorry, I know this must hurt, a lot." Damien said apologetically, but she shook her head, her voice betraying her sadness when she responded,

"no, it's fine. Continue." she said tensely, he still looked sorry, but he did as she asked,

"that's Skayr Dolton. She'll act tough and kind of scary, but you'll get used to it...in fact, I think she'll need to adjust to you." he teased the tanned version of Lisa, who growled and glared. He waved it off, "you can go now, Skayr. She just wanted to know who you were." the girl stalked out of the room, obviously ticked off that she had to walk into a room for about ten seconds, get teased, then sent away. "Who was she?" he asked suddenly, Azuril stared at him,

"Skayr, you said her name was?" she tried, he gave a quick nod, but then added to it.

"I mean to you. Who was she when you knew her?" he asked, contemplating regret ahead of time. She answered surprising quick, still sounding indifferent, thought everyone could see that she was on the verge of shoving Miko away from the door, opening said door, and bolting out of there.

"My best friend. Her name was Lisa." she said, Damien gave a slow nod of acknowledgment, then looked at the doorway where 'Jessi' stood, no longer holding a wrench, just a calm smile, as though trying to keep this as painless as possible,

"This is Bobby Mercer-" he started, but Zykan cut him off,

"she likes to burn things." he said, then he was up on the ceiling before she could get to him, leaving her standing under him screaming swear words at him.

"And her?" Damien said, Azuril knew what he meant,

"my..." she let down her mask so she could properly hold back her tears, "my cousin." she finished, no one moved after she said that, "we were like sisters."

"I'm sorry." Damien said, she shook her head,

"you couldn't have changed that, and you didn't know. Don't be sorry. You don't need to." then she looked at him, he flinched at the hollow look in her eyes, thinking that he like the indifference and uncaring look to her much more than this, sudden and frightening, hollow and broken look to her. "You all look like the faces I had nightmares about for one thousand years. Miko has my friend Lizz's face, Skayr has my best friend Lisa's face, she too was like a sister to me. Annakhin, you look like my friend Anna, you're also kind, and naturally pure as she was. Zykan, though not physically, and somewhat not in personality, you are my friend Noah's twin."

"What about Damien? Does he look like anyone you used to know? And please tell me for sure that Noah was a boy, because if I'm a girl's rep, I'll just feel really weirded out." Zykan said,

"Noah was a boy, you are safe, you also act much like I used to, I see not only Noah in you, but a small piece of what I once was."

"Wow, a double whammy...sorry." he said, she waved her hand dismissively,

"don't be, I don't need or want pity, sympathy or apologies from people, words can be hollow, as can apologies." she said, then she looked at Damien, "yes, Zykan, he does look like someone I once knew. He looks just like the reason I was imprisoned in this hellish and inhuman body." no one moved, only stared wide eyed at Damien, who looked like he was about to pass out. Skayr snuck back into the room, having been listening right outside the door, when she heard that, she two was stuck still, Zykan fell off of the ceiling after hearing that, he righted himself into a sitting position, then just stared.

"You mean," Annakhin spoke up, though it was quiet, "he looks just like the person that started all of this for you?" Azuril nodded.

"My friend, Genevieve, yes, a girl, my apologies, was the one I was trying to protect. Angela tricked me into meddling in her affairs, then changed my body, and left me to deal with the fact that I was no longer going to be able to see anyone at all, including the one I was trying to rescue...from herself. Angela had started her entire scheme one thousand years ago. She planned everything out, I think she even planned out all of you, playing you and using you in order to get you this far, and to gather you into a group in the first place, but I don't know that for sure. She had most, if not all, of her plans made and set out for her ready, but she needed someone to play my part, to play the part of a lone rag-doll of a living thing that lives only because the nightmares keep it going. She began searching for a player by trying to use me to take one of my friends in my stead. But, I cared for them too much to immerse myself too deeply into her plans. I stayed by them more than I did her and they unknowingly saved both me and themselves...for a short time. Since I was expendable at the time, she lost interest in me and went about trying to figure something else out, but I was to lose to her again when she finally came up with a new idea. She went after my friends, not me, only them, those people that look like all of you. She picked out the one out of all of them that was hurting the most, the one that needed something to cling to in a way. That person was my friend, Genevieve, you, Damien. She used my friend, pretending to care, pretending to understand, she played me at the same time. She knew I would react, try to save my friend. The fact that I had been in Genevieve's place at one time was part of the reason I wanted Angela gone, though she had a different name at the time. Her cover was a girl that had left years before this all happened, Nikki. I continually got in the way, I tried as much as possible to steer Genevieve away from that woman. But my attempts were my downfall. That was what she was looking for. She wanted, needed, someone who was in a melancholy, desperately concerned and worried state that was trying to save someone from themself. I played right into that category, she experimented on me, turned me into this...creature...then put me in that crypt. All because I wanted to rescue someone I cared for." she said, still looking at Damien. She'd regained most of her composure and was rebuilding her walls, draining the sadness from her features, slowly, but it was happening. "Genevieve has passed herself on, to you, Damien. You and her look the same." then, just as the last bit of her uncaring features was added and she looked completely and untouchably indifferent and uncaring, Damien passed out. The mask wavered for a second as a sudden look of panic swept over her features, then she caught herself and helped Skayr and Miko get Damien laid out on the couch, Annakhin standing up and running from the room,

"I'll get something for his head." she called back, "he'll probably be dizzy when he wakes up."

Azuril watched her leave, then looked at Damien,

oops... she thought, shit. I didn't mean to do that. 

"didn't know you affected him that much, Azuril." Bobby commented, she too was looking at Damien, "I've never once seen him faint. Bravo." Miko and Zykan snickered at that, Skayr gave an irks 'humph'

"He should be able to pull himself together better than that." she said crossly, arms folded over her chest, no one missed the slight worry in her voice, and with the way her shoulders were set, drooped some more then set high like she normally looked, they knew she was still mentally reeling from Azuril's words.

"I had no intention towards that reaction." Azuril said, Bobby stifled a laugh,

"well, we all got to see him faint finally, let's put it that way, as opposed to dwelling on all that stuff we heard. Though, the thought of being a 'game-piece' does piss me off some."

"Yeah, I like that notion. I second it." Zykan said. Then he blinked a bit when Annakhin came back in the room with a bottle of pain killers, "uh, hey, Missy, just put a warm cloth on his head when he's out cold, works just as well as those, but, you don't have to wait for him to wake up and be in pain." he said, Annakhin looked thoughtful for a second, then gave a small nod and left again. One thing they'd all noticed, through their time with the pair, is that Zykan, in a way, does as told when told to do it when Annakhin says he should, and that he doesn't seem to enjoy her company much, whether it being the fact that she seems to be able to boss him around if ever she decides to, and that he seems to lag and defuse slightly around her, or more accurately, around the bracelet she wears, the other reason could be that she's pure and seemingly, in a way, divine, and he, bluntly put, is pretty well a demon, whether in personality or species, no one knew, but they figured both. The last thing they noticed was that Zykan calls Annakhin 'Missy'. Annakhin explained that he started saying it right after she met him, and found her bracelet, that was when he seemed forced to follow her around. They allow him to say it's because she feeds him as opposed to suggesting that he may be bound to her or something of that sort. Let him live in his disillusionment...

"_Please help me 'cause I'm breaking down, _

_this pictures frozen and I cant get out  
Please help me 'cause I'm breaking down, _

_this pictures frozen and I cant get out of here  
Believe me, I'm just as lost as you_

_Believe me I'm just as lost as you_

and every time I think I've finally made it  
I learn I'm farther away than I have ever been before  
I see the clock and its ticking away, and the hourglass empty  
What the fuck do I have to say

Please help me 'cause I'm breaking down, 

_this pictures frozen and I cant get out  
Please help me 'cause I'm breaking down, _

_this pictures frozen and I can't get out of hereBelieve me, I'm just as lost as you  
Believe me, I'm just as lost as you_

Keep it inside, the image portrayed  
As if I couldn't stand losing as if I couldn't be saved, no way  
A small confession I think I'm starting to lose it  
I think I'm drifting away from the people I really need  
A small reflection on when we were younger  
We had it all figured out 'cause we had everything covered  
Now were older its getting harder to see  
What this future will hold for us, what the fuck are we going to be?

Please help me 'cause I'm breaking down, 

_this picture's frozen and I cant get out  
Please help me 'cause I'm breaking down, _

_this picture's frozen and I cant get out of here  
Believe me, I'm just as lost as you  
Believe me, I'm just as lost as you_

_  
So lost, I'm just as lost as you  
Oh well what am I going to do  
I'm afraid I'm falling farther away _

_(from where I want to be)_

Please help me 'cause I'm breaking down, 

_this pictures frozen and I cant get out  
Please help me 'cause I'm breaking down, _

_this pictures frozen and I cant get out of here  
Release me, I'm just as lost as you  
Believe me, I'm just as lost as you"_  
---

Trapt; _Still Frame; Trapt_


	5. ch 4 will you stay with me?

Will You Stay With Me?

When Damien finally woke up, the group had dispersed and only Annakhin, Azuril and Zykan, who was up on the ceiling and seemed to be brooding, remained.

"What's with him?" was the first thing Damien said, Azuril answered, Annakhin was too busy giggling at a moody Zykan.

"Annakhin had him running some errands, then she asked that he stay here until you woke up." she said,

"and now that you're up, I'm leaving. See ya." Zykan said, still sounding irked, then he dropped down off of the ceiling, grabbed his scythe, which had been leaning against the wall near the door to the hall, and exited the room, Annakhin still giggling. For a second he stayed perfectly still, trying to pass out again, he was tired now, then his eyes widened and he sat up,

"The ball!" he cried, "where'd it go? Did it get away?"

"What?" Annakhin asked, looking completely lost. Azuril held up the ball.

"No, it didn't get away, I have it right here." she said, then she passed it back to him. Again he gave her a curious look.

"That's another opportunity to be gone and out of here. But, again, you passed it up. Did you really mean it when you said you'd stay?" he said, watching her carefully for a reaction of some kind.

"I wasn't going to leave until I knew that I hadn't seriously hurt you. It would only add on to the many things than I blame myself for." she said, "I still care nothing for you, I only care for the people you resemble. That is the only reason I acted as I did earlier. Nothing more." then she left the room.

"Did she mean that?" Annakhin said, "that she doesn't care about us?"she looked at Damien, who was looking at the ball on the palm of his hand.

"She's pretty hell-bent on it. If she keeps it up, I'm gonna have no choice but to let her go." he said, Annakhin lowering her gaze,

"I was so sure that at least some of what I've seen from her was for us. But, it really does seem to be only for the people we used to be to her." she said sadly. Damien nodded in agreement,

"seemingly so." he said, they sat in silence, dwelling on that fact.

Azuril was walking out of the house, through the back door, and looking up at the stars,

"it's so much easier to see them now..." she muttered, meaning the stars. Her stargazing was interrupted by a loud crash, then a female voice letting off a long string of curses. She followed the noise around to the side of the house, Bobby was there, crouched on the ground, picking up the tools she'd accidently bumped and knocked all over the place. Azuril stood and watched for a while, once Bobby was done picking things up, she turned on some music, it was playing on a stereo that, sort of, resembled something that was about to come out in her time period. how the hell did a really, really new CD player survive one thousand years of technology advancement? she thought to herself, then she jumped when Ghost of You by My Chemical Romance came blaring out, Bobby swearing again as she turned the volume down quick, better question, how the hell did that music survive one thousand years of music advancement? she watched Bobby work for a little bit, muttering something, she couldn't tell what it was, and listening to one of her favorite songs by Chemical Romance, then she decided to go sit down on a stool near the stereo, she couldn't help it. Her brain had gone into autopilot and wanted to be by her cousin, sitting by her and watching, or following as she used to. Bobby was too much like her cousin for her sub-conscious to tell the difference between the two. As far as her brain was concerned, she was sitting next to Jessi, watching her doing her usual thing and listening to music, music that must, by now, be considered 'oldies'. She was also muttering about the fact that everyone in the group teased her at some point about her taste in music, and the fact that she could work an ancient piece of equipment like a stereo. She didn't notice she had an audience until she turned around to change the song on her CD player, once she noticed, she sky rocketed.

"Whoa! What the hell! What are you doing here!" she yelped, Azuril's brain was in autopilot again,

"what song were you going to listen to?" she asked, Bobby froze, blinking rapidly in confusion.

"What?" she said in a quick snap, Azuril just pointed to the CD player,

"were you going to play a specific song? If not, then may I choose one?" she asked. Bobby stared openly for a second, then nodded,

"you can pick." she said, "if you know how to work that thing, that is." she added. Azuril waved it off, then pushed the 'back arrow' several times, stopping at the first song, Helena. "How did you know how to do that?"

"These were in my time period originally. My cousin, the girl you resemble, enjoyed listening to, what I called, 'oldies' music. But she used records and a turntable. I don't expect you to know what those things are, she also liked this band." she said, "and, though Helena and I'm Not Ok are two of my personal favorites, Ghost of You is probably my true favorite." she added. Then she fell silent, listening to Helena and watching Bobby.

"Well, whoa. Ok." she said, then she went back to work on the hover-board Zykan had accidently re-demolished.

Later, Damien came outside, Looking for Azuril, to make sure she hadn't run off. When he found her, he stared openly for a second, then relaxed and smiled, walking over to where Bobby was working, and Azuril was watching.

"So, you don't care about us, huh?" he said, both girls looked at him, Ghost of You was playing on the stereo again and Bobby stopped in the middle of handing Azuril a wrench, Azuril was holding a screw-driver like tool, ready to hand it to Bobby, a tool box set on her lap.

"Who doesn't care?" Bobby asked, looking lost.

"Miss Toolbox over there." Damien said, pointing at Azuril, who just stared at him, "so, you don't care, and yet you're sitting there, helping Bobby, and listening to music, just like one of the group. Interesting way of not caring." he said.

"It was reflex. She looks like my cousin. And my cousin enjoyed listening to music while she toyed with mechanical, or electrical, or flammable items...most pyro mechanical. She enjoyed the sight of fire. I used to sit and watch her tinkering with things, on any necessary occasion, I would also assist in her little escapades. But mostly, I enjoyed just being there with her. As an added fact, she also enjoyed listening to 'oldies' music, using older technology to do so, and she enjoyed listening to this particular band as well." Azuril said, Bobby was blinking and staring at her.

"And you kissed your mother with that mouth?" she said sarcastically.

"So, this situation was basically the past calling out to you?" Damien said, Azuril nodded.

"Exactly so, yes." she paused, then looked at Bobby, "to both of you." Bobby sputtered a bit, then went back to work quickly.

"So," Damien said, walking over to sit next to Azuril, "it's not because you wanted to help Bobby, your brain went into auto-pilot, or something, and you only saw and wanted to help, your cousin?" he asked, looking up at her from where he sat on the ground. She nodded.

"Yes." she said, Bobby made an agitated noise,

"well, thanks." she said in a slightly irritated tone, "screw driver." she said, holding out her hand, Azuril handed off said item, having taken the wrench she been given.

"How long have you been out here?" Damien asked, both girls answered,

"about two hours." Bobby said,

"about half an hour." Azuril said. Damien shrugged,

"either way, anyone have any special requests for dinner?" he asked, Azuril shook her head, Bobby gave the same answer Jessi would have.

"As long as it's something edible, I don't really care. But you know my list of 'I don't eat that' foods, so be careful." she said, "ok, I need the wrench again."

"I'll leave you two to it then." Damien said, wondering if he could somehow use the rest of the group to get Azuril to stay. If Bobby got her to sit still and participate in something willingly, just by being there, then the others were bound to have some effect on her for sure...then again, Bobby looked like a relative, so she had the best chance at getting Azuril to stick around. He started walking towards the front of the house when he heard the door open and close. Then he nearly jumped out of his skin when something he couldn't quite make out went speeding past him. "What the hell was that?" he said to himself, then he went inside, finding an extremely confused Annakhin, Miko and Skayr waiting for him, not really for that reason but they were all in the front room. "What's up?" he asked, looking around the trio of girls, "where's Zykan?"

"We were hoping you could tell us." Skayr said, "he did say he was going to find you."

"Well, I never saw him out there." Damien said, "I did see something go by here shit fast though."

"Could that have been him?" Miko said, Damien shook his head,

"no, Zykan's fast, but not like that thing. Oh well, unless he gets shot, he'll come back. He always does."

About and hour later, after everyone had finished eating, Bobby eating Zykan's share in his absence, they heard the front door open and close.

"Someone's here." Damien said, getting up and walking away from the table. He bumped straight into Zykan as he headed for the front room, "welcome back. Bobby ate your dinner. Where were you?" Damien asked.

"Yeah, hi. Bitch. And NOYDB(None Of Your Damn Business), pal." Zykan said simply, then he walked away, of course carrying his scythe with him.

"He's really weird." Miko said, Bobby nodded.

"He's an odd one alright. And I am not a bitch."

"We know, Bobby. He's just mad at you for eating his food." Annakhin said. Skayr looked up from picking her teeth with the tip of her knife,

"he never eats dinner, why is he still getting upset about it?" she said, then she resumed picking her teeth. Bobby took the knife from her.

"That's nasty don't do it at the table." she said, putting the knife down next to her plate.

"He is strange," Azuril spoke up, everyone looked at her, "but, if he is the most like my old friend, then there is much more to him than simply 'strange'. I have an odd feeling we have only seen the tip of what he can do." she said, standing up and leaving the table, going down the hall, stopping at the room she'd been in before, standing there, seemingly deep in thought, then she walked into the room and closed the door behind her.

"And we have to keep her?" Miko said, glaring at Damien, who stared her down,

"yes. She may not care about us, but I'd like to know if any of you can be cold enough to toss her out into a world she knows nothing about, in the condition she's in, mentally, and then walk away with only the thought if 'well at least that burden's off my shoulders'? I know I can't do that and go on feeling completely happy she's gone."

"I never would do that." Annakhin said.

"We expected as much from you, though." Miko said, then she looked back at Damien, "I see what you're getting at. But, still..."

"I couldn't do it either." Bobby said, Miko gave her a look, Skayr made a miffed noise.

"If it meant leaving knowing I'd killed someone who'd been in the same hell I'd been in, I wouldn't. Besides, I don't care either." she said. "You don't need to care about someone just because they have the same goals you do."

"So, not even Skayr could throw her out. I think she'd have shot herself by now if she was dependant on Zykan, so we'll exclude him." Damien said, then he looked at Miko, "still wanna throw her out?" he asked, she hesitated for a while, then shook her head.

"No, I can't throw her out. Skayr had a bit of a point, you don't need to care about someone just because they have the same goals as you do." then she started to put the dishes in the sink. Damien smiled, he knew she cared. Then he went to sit down on the couch, and play with the little black ball, still trying to think of a way to get Azuril to stay with them without having to trick her, or hold her with them because he had something she wanted back. He wanted her to stay because she wanted to, not because something was making her.

"What are you thinking about?" Annakhin asked, walking into the room and taking a seat on the couch next to Damien.

"Azuril, how to get her to stay here, with all of us, without having to trick her in some way." He said, still absently rolling the ball around between his palms. Annakhin smiled knowingly.

"You really want her here that badly? Skayr wanted nothing more than to walk away and leave us from the beginning and you weren't this persistent." she said, Damien shook his head,

"no, I wasn't this persistent. But, that's because when we found her, she'd been returning to Bobby's house, the two lived together, remember?" Annakhin nodded,

"I do. And you're trying to say that it's because of Bobby that Skayr stayed, she wanted to stick with her friend? Is that it?" she said, smile never fading, Damien nodded a bit,

"I guess so. And it's because of you that Zykan's still here, that and he does seem to enjoy the entire this, it's enough excitement to make him happy. Miko's the only one that stays here because she wants to get this done. Bobby, and the group objective, are the only reasons Skayr is still here, otherwise she'd never have come. You, for some weird reason, and the excitement of it all, are what's keeping Zykan here. You said earlier that the fact that this all sounded kind of fun was what made you join in, the same thing with Bobby. Miko, Skayr and I are the only ones that have a real cause for all of this. And all of us keep each other together in a group. But, the only attachment Azuril might have is she wants Angela dead. Nothing else is keeping her here. If anything, I think she's got more reasons to leave than she does to stay." Annakhin looked confused at that,

"what reasons to leave would she have?" she asked, Damien looked at her,

"just seeing us kills more and more of her every second we're visible to her. We forced her awake, into this world that she knows nothing about. She really hasn't done or received anything while she's been here that might make her stay. And she's got nothing more to lose in her opinion, why risk gaining something that might end out being taken from her right after she finally gets it? We've given her more reasons to leave by just existing than we have for her to stay." he said, "she has every right to leave, she's been given the opportunity several times, but she didn't take it. She didn't leave. I don't know why, but she didn't, the fact that she doesn't know a thing about almost anything she'll find around her is probably the only reason she's still here." he lowered his gaze away from the girl next to him, "it doesn't make sense for her to leave." Annakhin knew exactly what was going on inside his head right away once she'd heard him speak. She kept up her smile,

"if you want her to stay, why don't you ask her." she said, Damien stared at her for a moment, then gave up,

"you're right on that, if I want her to stay, and willingly so, then I should probably ask her to." he said, then he got up and headed for the hall.

"Oh, Damien!" Annakhin said, "don't get too nervous about it. It's just a question." she said, he gave her a look and left.

"He's going to give himself away?" Skayr said as she and Bobby entered the room. Annakhin shook her head,

"if he does it's going to be an accident. He just really wants her to stay with us." she said.

"The kid's setting himself up for a soap opera style scene in there." Bobby said, watching Damien enter Azuril's room. "She won't listen, he'll lose hope, we'll have to dig him out of a pit of depression."

"No," Annakhin said thoughtfully, "I think it'll be ok." Skayr scoffed,

"yes, I'm sure." she said sarcastically. Miko and Zykan joined them,

"what'd we miss? Where's he off to?" Zykan asked, pointing down the hall, indicating he meant Damien.

"Damien's going to further ruin his life." Skayr said, Bobby nodded. Annakhin gave a frustrated sigh,

"he's not going to ruin his life. He's going to talk to Azuril. Nothing more." she said.

"Oh. He still wants her to stay, then?" Zykan said. Annakhin nodded. Miko looked down the hall, frowning, staying silent. The rest of the group just looked at her for a second, then at each other, no secret about that stance, Miko never could keep a secret.

"He isn't going to ask her to marry him, Miko." Bobby said, the girl looked at her wide eyed, "he just wants to ask her to stay. Don't worry."

"Worry? Why would I? He can do what he wants. I don't care." she said, then she walked towards her own room.

"That girl is a shit liar." Zykan said, the trio of girls with him nodded.

"Azuril?" Damien said as he entered the girl's room, she was sitting on her bed, cleaning her gun. "Can I talk to you?"

"You may. I am listening." she said, stopping her cleaning to give him her full attention.

"I wanted to ask you to stay permanently. Whether you care or not, it's up to you. But, I want you to stay with us. Please." he said, his stomach knotted, then relaxed as he managed to calm down his nervousness. She stared at him unblinkingly for a while, then went back to cleaning her gun,

"I will consider it." she said, he stayed in the room watching her for a moment, then left the room.

Several days went by, each day brought more confusion as to how Azuril managed to heal so quickly, each days also brought a new tense spot, several small arguments between Miko and Damien about Azuril arose, several missed opportunities to escape by Azuril, and finally, the group was ready to leave. They thanked the woman and her son for letting them stay, Azuril was apologized to several more times, then they departed. Azuril still not answering Damien on whether she would stay permanently or not. A fair amount of time was spent wandering, following tips from people about where the odd creatures wandering around seemed to be coming from. During several fights with said creatures, Azuril would either fight hard enough to end it as fast as possible, or dive to the back, not moving to attack at all, just hiding from the fight. She wasn't up for finding out whether or not she could transform like Vincent could. Finally, her odd techniques got to some of the group members.

"What's with you?" Miko snapped at the girl after a fight that Azuril had hid through, "you're either up front fighting like you actually want to do so, or you're gone at the first hint of danger. What is your problem!" she glared angrily at the stoic girl, who only looked back at her with a reserved expression on her face,

"I have my reasons. You don't need to know them." she said, then she walked away from the girl, who just stared after her in some shock.

"That girl's a basket-case." Zykan said from behind Miko a ways, he was allowing Annakhin to bandage up a large cut on his fore arm as he spoke. She looked up from her task for a second,

"I'm sure she has her reasons, just like she said." she said before going back to work bandaging Zykan's arm. Skayr glared at Azuril, who was standing farthest away from all of them, watching the rest of the group silently.

"She's useless. Damien, why is she still here? She knows enough to survive. Let her go." she said, miffed, to say the least. Damien shook his head,

"she's not going anywhere. She still won't be able to make it out there by herself. I'm not letting her go, or making her go." he said, Skayr and Miko glared, they didn't like Azuril hanging around, both for their own reasons, both also tired of her odd behavior in battle. Bobby looked seriously at Damien,

"sooner or later those guys'll get mad enough to do something about that girl themselves. I think it's safer for her if you just leave her at the next town." she said, "it really does seem like the safest bet." she said, looking at Azuril, who was watching them tentatively, "you want her to stay safe, don't you?" she added. He sighed loudly,

"I know they don't seem to like her. And I know I probably should leave her somewhere if I'm ever going to keep this team together. But I can't do it. She's not leaving. She just isn't and they'll have to get used to that." he said, Miko glared at him, hands on hips,

"but, she doesn't even like us. She's says so every time we start to try talking to her." she said, annoyed with him, she didn't like Azuril hanging around and swallowing up all of the attention Damien could give.

"Miko, I'm really sorry, but I can't let her go. I won't let her go." hr said. Zykan pointed behind them, where Azuril was supposed to be.

"Tell her that-ow! Fuck!" he said, glaring at Annakhin for pulling the bandage around his arm too tight. Damien spun around to look for the girl, not finding her anywhere.

"Fuck!" he hissed, "and I still have that damn ball, she must not have cared about that anymore." he said spazticly, searching around frantically for the gun-wielding girl,

"well, after hearing all that shit, I guess she got tired of the whole 'stay' idea.." Zykan said. Miko and Skayr looked at each other for a second, not sure whether or not they should be happy or angry with themselves. Damien stopped running around and looked at his friends,

"Let's go look for her. And if no one comes with me, I'm going alone." he said, Bobby huffed, standing up,

"I'll go, if not for the sole purpose of rescuing your ass at some point." she said, Annakhin nodded, standing up,

"Zykan and I will help too." she said, the green eyed boy's eyes widened slightly in shock, then he looked at Annakhin,

"we will?" he said, but he was ignored. The four of them headed off in two different directions, Zykan and Annakhin went to the left, Bobby and Damien went to the right, towards a large forest, Annakhin and Zykan were heading towards a field of grass that was taller than Annakhin, that set Zykan mumbling irritably about possibly needing to play the roll of a lawn mower. Miko looked at Skayr,

"well, what do we do?" she asked the blond, who shrugged,

"aid in the search. You go with Annakhin and Zykan, I'm going after Bobby and Damien." she said, before Miko could protest, she was off running after the pair.

"Where do you think she went?" Annakhin asked, watching Zykan slice a path for her so he could actually see where she was as opposed to digging in the grass for her continually.

"Hell, if I knew, I wouldn't be looking for her. That girl's a problem, if you ask me." he said, then he stopped what he was doing, turning around, "someone's coming." he jumped over Annakhin, landing behind her, she turned around to see what was following them,

"Oh!" she said, "it's Miko."

"So I can't kill it?" Zykan said sarcastically, Miko glared at him,

"shut up. I'm here to help look for Vampire Girl." she said, Zykan shrugged, jumping back over Annakhin and continuing his assault on the grass, mumbling angrily about being a lawn mower, again, Annakhin smiled,

"we're glad to have the extra help." she said.

"Extra help my ass. If she wanted to help she'd have come with a machete to help me with this weed garden." Zykan snapped. Miko glared,

"if I'd come with a machete, you wouldn't be around to ask for help." she said,

"Come one, you two, we're trying to find Azuril, not argue amongst ourselves, please, stop." Annakhin said, Zykan growled angrily at that, but kept quiet otherwise. Miko gave a derisive snort, but stayed quiet as well. "Thank you."

"Azuril! Where are you! Come on, those two idiots didn't mean it!" Bobby called, Damien was up in a tree, looking around as much as the forest would allow.

"Hey, you think I should just let her go?" he called down to Bobby, who turned to look up the tree at him,

"Damien, you came this far with her here, are you really gonna let all of that go just because she ran off once? We'll find her. Then you can put her on a leash or knock her out and drag her or something if you don't want her gone." she said, Damien turned slightly pink,

"put her on a leash! Where the hell do you get these things from! And you're the one that would have to provide the leash, I don't do bondage!" he cried, Bobby burst out laughing,

"easy, kid, it was a joke!" she said, laughing more when he glared at her, then went back to looking around. that kid's as easy to read as an open book. When we find her, she's in for it from him...I give it a half an hour screaming fit from him...I should be selling tickets, not hunting for a gunner. she thought, grinning as she swung her boomerang out in front of her, hacking away a group of small trees so she could see farther into the forest. "Hey, Damien, what if we don't find her?"

"Then we look til we do." he said simply, Bobby gave a ragged sigh.

"Y'know, I could live for a thousand billion years, and never fully understand men..." she muttered, swinging her boomerang again.

"You may want to be careful with that thing, if she is near here, you might hit her on accident." came a familiar voice from behind the pair. They looked around for a second, then found Skayr sitting calmly in a tree, "I checked off to the right a ways, she's not over there, she'll most likely be off to the left a bit, how far away from us she is, I don't know."

"So, you decided to come and help. Thanks." Damien said, then he jumped carefully to the next tree.

The search went on for hours, fruitless in every way. Skayr could find no traces of a path the girl might have taken, Bobby could throw her boomerang as much as she wanted, but the chopped down trees would reveal nothing. Damien could find nothing as well.

"Well, this is ridiculous." he said. Hanging upside down on a branch above Skayr and Bobby, who were sitting next to the tree he was in, Bobby leaning against the trunk lazily.

"Well, this was the place closest to her after that last battle before she vanished, she had to have gone in here." Bobby said, Skayr looked up at the other girl from where she lay, curled up like a cat, next to her.

"After she entered the forest, then, I suppose she turned her arms into wings and flew away, singing merrily, into the trees." she said flatly, Damien and Bobby gave her odd looks.

"Can I buy pot from you?" Bobby said sarcastically. Damien looked completely lost, looking from one girl to the other, then repeating the action several times over.

"I'm the one with the blood rushing to my head, and you're the one acting like I should be by now. Nice suggestion, but I highly doubt it." he said, Bobby looked up at him,

"well, with how strange, and unsuccessful, our search has been, I'm starting to think, maybe, Skayr has something going there." she said, Damien gave her an odd look,

"can I buy pot from you?" he said, mimicking her earlier comment, making her glare at him. The crash of a tree falling down ahead of them made the trio focus on their surroundings again, Damien righting himself on the branch he was on, Bobby jumping to her feet, readying herself to throw her boomerang if necessary, Skayr crouched down on the ground, cracking her knuckles, ready to dive at who or whatever was coming their way.

Zykan froze up in the middle of a swing at the grass, straightening himself up and looking around,

"Something's coming this way." he said, "fast." he backed up, stopping about two feet away from Annakhin, the fact that someone like him was so loyally and somewhat overly protective of someone like Annakhin still amazed Miko, the odd way he acted around Annakhin was no exception either. She backed up as well, facing the opposite direction as Zykan, fists raised, ready to kick the shit out of whatever was headed their way. Annakhin looked behind her cautiously, looking to the front a second later, then back behind her, not wanting something to sneak up on her. When she looked to her front again, she shrieked in fear, a large beetle-looking creature was crawling out of the grass, when she heard the grass rustling behind her, she turned to look, screaming again when she found another beetles coming into view.

"Wha-wha-wha-what's going on here!" Miko shrieked, also freaked out, bugs were bad enough in her opinion, big ass bugs were in a completely new catagory of icky in her mind. Zykan moved in front of Annakhin, Miko moved behind her, the smaller girl had no weapons of any king and didn't like using her magic unless it was absolutely necessary.

"We must have stumbled into their territory." Zykan said, "damn, that means we're probably surrounded, if we attack, they'll just come after us and trample us." he said in a slightly irritated tone, "I should have sensed them sooner, what the hell was blocking it?" Miko looked over her shoulder at the boy for a second,

"maybe you were concentrating too much on killing the local plant life." she suggested, he shook his head,

"that wouldn't have impeded it. What the hell are these things that they could sneak up on us like that?" he said tensely, mentally berating himself for being as clueless as he had been.

"It's not your fault, Zykan. We don't blame you." Annakhin said,

"for once, I agree, we can't blame you here. These things are to blame. You're cool on this one." Miko said.

"Thanks." Zykan said, then he seemed to spaz, "look out, Miko!" he cried, turning around and reaching past Annakhin, yanking Miko backwards, giving Annakhin a quick apology for the fact that he'd just yanked Miko on top of her. The beetle that had been standing in front of Miko had charged, snapping its pincers closed where she'd been standing.

"Whoa!" Miko yelped, catching her balance, then bending down to help Annakhin up.

"As strong as you are, that would have snapped you in half like a wishbone." he said, she only gave a small nod in thanks.

"So, you're pretty well the only one here that can successfully get rid of these things?" Miko said, "you're the one with the weapon."

"I think so, yeah." he said, then he started motioning for them to back up down the path they made in the grass, "but there's a whole shit load of them around us now, and I don't think I can take em all." he added, "so, I think we can figure out our best, and pretty well only, option."

"Yup." Miko said.

"Running?" Annakhin said, Zykan and Miko nodded, then Zykan grabbed Annakhin by the wrist and bolted, Miko not far behind.

"Do you think they'll leave us alone once we get out of this field?" Miko cried as she ran, Zykan shook his head a bit,

"no idea, I'm not very well versed in insect politics." he said,

"well, we won't be in their territory anymore, they'll have no reason to come after us once we're out of this field, right?" Annakhin said.

"Again, I have no clue." Zykan said, still gripping Annakhin's wrist, "and, I know you're small, but can't you speed it up a bit?"

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Annakhin said. Then she bumped into Zykan when he skidded to a stop, Miko stopping as well,

"what the hell are you doing! there's a stampede of bugs chasing us! Why are you stopping!" She cried, then she blinked a bit when he grabbed Annakhin up around the waist, then started running again,

"making this go faster, she was running too slow." he said, Miko rolled her eyes as she continued running from an army of very large insects. Once the end of the grass was in sight, the trio stopped again, again because of Zykan skidding to an abrupt halt,

"what now!" Miko snapped, Zykan half dropped Annakhin and held tighter onto his scythe, pointing ahead of them. A group of bugs was blocking the path. "Oh, god damn it! This is fucking ridiculous!" Miko cried, ready to start ripping at her hair.

"It may be ridiculous, but stay focused, or you'll end up literal worm food." Zykan said.

"That's not funny, Zykan." Miko said, half agitated half knowing he was telling the truth. He glared at her,

"Would you rather I put it like this; stay focused or you'll be killed in grotesque and strange ways by one or more of millions of bugzillas?"

"I like the 'worm food' one better." Miko said, pale in the face.

"I thought you might. Now, keep yourself focused, I have enough to worry about without you getting your ass in trouble." Zykan said, taking a step back when more bugs came into view, then he turned around to face the bugs behind them. I really didn't wanna have to do this in front of someone besides Missy, but if I don't... he thought nervously, then he raised his scythe like an executioner would his axe, both girls watching as it started to glow, grackles of black energy coming from it every now and then,

"what the hell is he doing!" Miko cried, Annakhin just looked nervous. Both girls jumped when he looked over his shoulder, his eyes were completely black, "what the-"

"get down." he said suddenly, when they hesitated he snapped at them, "get down now, dammit! And cover your heads, I ain't gonna resurrect you or anything!" the girls were crouched over on the ground with their arms covering their heads not even a second after he finished talking. He looked back to the front, bring his scythe down, sending a wave of black and red energy of some kind straight ahead of him, wiping out the entire field, not to mention all of the bugs in front of him, then he swung around so he was standing facing Annakhin and Miko, swing his scythe around in front of him, sending another wave of energy out, wiping out the bugs, any of the grass left in front of him and a small part of the forest that Damien, Bobby and, no doubt, Skayr had gone into, said forest being quite a ways away from them. The energy died down, Zykan relaxed and his eyes retained their usual greenish color, slitted pupils focusing themselves so he could see properly, then he fell over in a dead faint from some exhaustion.

"What the hell was that!" Miko screamed, jumping to her feet, looking around at the completely demolished and empty area where a field and an absurdly large amount of freakishly huge bugs had been. Then she swung around, pointing at Zykan, "what the hell is he!" she shrieked, Annakhin crawled over to him, checking his pulse, then putting a hand on his forehead when she noted his breathing was coming in short gasps.

"He's sick." she said, Miko shook her head,

"I didn't ask about his condition, I asked about his species! Or what planet he's from, or whatever!" she cried. Annakhin shook her head as she tended to Zykan as best as she could,

"I can't really tell you all of it. All that I can really say now is that I found the bracelet I'm wearing in a secret room, very deep within a shrine for a great wizard. The bracelet had a lot of powerful seals and wards around it and when I touched it, it spoke, saying I should put it on. When I did, Zykan appeared." she said, Miko looked lost,

"what? He came from a bracelet?" she said skeptically, looking at Zykan, who was starting to look feverish like Annakhin had mentioned, "why do I not believe you?"

"It's true, Miko. I'll tell you the whole thing later. But, we need to get him help first." Annakhin said, Miko rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Here help me with him..."

Once the sounds got close enough, Bobby wound up and threw her boomerang as hard as she could, sending it crashing through trees and brush, when it swung around out of sight on its return trip, they heard something hit, Damien jumped down out of the tree he'd been in, Skayr took his place, finding it easier to see when she should dive on whatever was making the noise, and coming towards them, when she had visual confirmation. A large, explosion esque sound came from behind them (Zykan wiping out the entire area in the field) making them turn away to look for the source, Bobby's boomerang came back, slicing the top of the tree Skayr was in clean off, Skayr pressing herself against what little trunk there was left on the tree as the top fell, Bobby snagging her runaway boomerang and running away from the falling tree top, Damien doing the same, in the opposite direction as Bobby. Skayr jumped up onto the flat surface the boomerang had left when it had cut through the tree,

"what did it hit?" Damien said, Skayr looked around carefully, taking in as much as she could. Then her eye focused on something.

"That way!" she said, pointing ahead of her, Damien and Bobby bolted in the specified direction, Skayr jumped to the next tree, jumping stealthily from tree to tree, slightly faster than her two friends were running.

"What did you see over there, Skayr?" Bobby called up to her friend, who spared her a quick glance before watching ahead of her again,

"I'm not quite sure. But, it was something." she said, "hopefully that problematic rag doll isn't over there." she added, referring to Azuril.

"I may not like your choice in words, Skayr, but I agree." Damien said as he ducked a low branch.

The trio stood in a row, staring flatly at what Bobby had hit, she'd beamed a bear in the head, knocking it out cold.

"Well, ok." Bobby said sarcastically, "I can hunt apparently."

"Accidentally so, yes." Skayr said, Damien looked around for a second, then shrugged,

"Let's keep going from here. This is the direction we were going to go in earlier anyway." he said, leading the two girls on, away from the bear.

"Are you positive she'll be in here somewhere?" Bobby asked, Damien nodded,

"Zykan would have tracked us down if they'd found her. She had to have gone this way." he said, Skayr grabbed his arm, then she put her other arm out to halt Bobby, she seemed to be listening to something. Finally she looked at Damien,

"get in a tree. Now, you too, Bobby." she ordered, the pair, though confused, followed her orders. Several minutes after the trio had settled on branches in three different trees, a large snake slid by under them, Damien holding back a scream, he hated snakes. Bobby and Skayr were making frantic motions for him to not scream, finally, the snake's tail bumped the tree Damien was in, the girls covered their ears when he let out a scream and scrambled higher up the tree. The snake turning itself around, heading back around by them,

"Dammit, Damien! You couldn't keep yourself quiet until it was gone!" Bobby yelled angrily, also crawling higher up in the tree she was in, Skayr jumped up a few branches in her tree too.

"I'm sorry if my worst nightmare managed to make me scream! You'd scream too if you were me!" Damien snapped defensively.

"Doubtful." Skayr said, Damien just glared at her, then cried out again when the snake half head-butted the tree he was in.

"Dammit!" Bobby snapped, throwing her boomerang, teetering on the branch she was standing on, then gripping the branch for dear life once she managed to sit down again. Her boomerang hit the ground between the snake and Damien's tree, making the snake turn to find whoever stopped his meal run. "Shit. I meant to hit the _snake_ not the _ground_!" Bobby snapped, then she paled as the snake headed her way, "oh, sweet Jesus! Help!"

"What do you want me to do! I'm weaponless, the snake could possibly swallow two people at one with how big it is, and who knows if it's venomous or not!" Skayr snapped, Damien was petrified on the spot, especially now after hearing what Skayr had just said.

"Well, think of something and-fuck!" Bobby yelled, hanging on tighter when her tree was head-butted. Skayr jumped around until she was perched next to Damien, who looked at her for about half a second, then went back to being terrified into a state of paralysis.

"Damien, give me you sword." he didn't move, Skayr wasn't a patient person, so she helped herself to Damien's katana, then she threw it like a javelin, it skewered the snake's tail, but otherwise pissed it off. "Shit." she hissed as the snake turned on them again, pushing Bobby's boomerang aside with its nose, then it beamed the tree again. Skayr and Damien teetered and swayed a bit, but managed to grab hold of the tree well enough to keep themselves on the branch. Finally, the snake got bored with head-butting the tree and reared up so it was in line with the pair on the branch.

"Damien! Skayr!" Bobby cried, then she nearly fell off the branch when something dark dove down past her, "what the fuck!" she looked down and found nothing but the snake, "I reiterate, 'what the fuck'?" apparently, the snake caught the sound of Bobby's confused voice, turning on her again, but its attack paused, then it went after something on the ground and off in the brush somewhere.

"What the hell?" Damien said, calming down.

"I haven't the slightest clue." Bobby said, jumping down out of the tree, wandering over to pick up her boomerang, "should we leave?"

"It still has my sword." Damien whimpered, Skayr looked around distractedly, feigning ignorance.

"Let's go get it back." Bobby said, starting towards the brush where the snake had disappeared in.

"Bobby, look out!" Skayr cried, her friend looked up at her for a second, then back to the front when she heard something, half a second later, she was hit by the snake's tail, sending her flying into a tree.

"Bobby!" Damien cried, getting ready to jump down and get to his friend, Skayr held him back.

"If you go to her now, you'll most likely join her in pain." she said.

"So, then, we leave her?" Damien snapped, "not a chance. I may hate snakes, but I'm not gonna let my friend get eaten by one!" he shoved Skayr's hands away and jumped out of the tree, running over to Bobby. Skayr jumped from tree to tree until she was right above her friends,

"it's coming around again." she said, "this time head first. Damien, get her up here! You'll be eaten!"

"I can't move her! A few of her ribs are broken, I'll just hurt her worse!" he said, looking up at Skayr.

"Oh, and getting eaten won't be painful?"she said sarcastically, "get up here!" before the argument could progress, the snake barreled through the brush, early missing Damien and Bobby, Damien grabbing his sword as it went by. "Why don't I just try to lob its head off?" he suggested, "cut the head off, kill the snake." he suggested.

"Sounds logical enough." Skayr said. "Don't get eaten." she added, that made him pale slightly.

"You had to freak me out, didn't you?" he said, watching the snake turn, and head for them again. Fear taking over again, Damien froze up, dropping his katana absently, the only thing he could properly focus on was the pair of fangs in the large, gaping mouth headed straight for him.

"Damien!" Skayr cried, "Damien, snap out of it and move, you'll be killed! Damien!" a tiny noise was the only response she got. She growled angrily, jumping down out of the tree, the branches on a tall sapling snapping off to her left caught her attention for a second, then she landed and carefully picked Bobby up, "Damien! Snap out of it!" she snapped, backing away fast, setting Bobby down, then bolting back towards Damien, the snake would have him in under a second. Everyone, snake and all, froze when there was a loud, low growl from off in the direction Skayr heard branches breaking in earlier, then the plants and trees cracked and flew off to the side of a purplish beast, only slightly taller than an average person, it let out another low growl before charging the snake, and doing away with it quite quickly. Skayr readied herself to fight and Damien, now composed, snagged his katana up off the ground, holding it at the ready, but the beast shocked both of them by giving a loud howl, slowly changing shape, the howl slowly changing tone as well, until finally it was a human girl's scream. The scream died down and the girl that the beast had originally been staggered forward a bit, then dropped to her knees, sitting on her feet and breathing deeply and quickly, trying to calm herself down, and keep herself conscious at the same time.

"A-A-Azuril!" Damien cried, katana hitting the ground again, Skayr staring dumbstruck next to him. The girl on the ground looked up slowly at the sound of her name, her usual expression on her face. "What was that!"

"Proof that I...I am no longer human..." she managed, then she fell over, out cold.

"Shit!" Damien hissed, running over to her, "Azuril, Azuril!" he snapped, trying to wake her,

"Let her rest." Skayr said, carrying Bobby over to where Damien sat, then laying her sown on the ground, "that must be exhausting. She deserves sleep." Damien looked at her for a second, then back at Azuril,

"I guess you have a point." he said, "what do you think that was?"

"More proof that Angela is extremely twisted." Skayr said, "she said she wasn't human anymore earlier, before all this. She must have meant that thing she turned into. That might also be why she either kills viciously, or runs in battle. Something there must cause her to change."

"I hope that's a good enough reason for you to want her with us, you go by power and usefulness, don't you?" Damien said, Skayr seemed to think about it for a second, then nodded,

"yes. That is enough for me to want her to stay with us." she said finally.

"I hope Miko agrees." Damien said quietly, Skayr tilted her head to the side a bit,

"Worry about her later. Help me with Bobby. Now that we've found her, we can leave." She said, picking Bobby up again, praying she wasn't hurting her friend more, or at least not a lot more. Damien followed Skayr, carrying Azuril.

When the two conscious members of the four leaving the forest got a good look around the area where there had once been tall grass and actual plant life of any kind, they nearly dropped their two friends.

"What the hell happened out here!" Damien said, looking around, nothing was there, no plants, no animals, no nothing.

"Zykan happened here." came Miko's voice from off to their right somewhere. The pair turned to find Annakhin and Miko walking towards them, Miko carrying Zykan on her back, his breathing still coming in quick gasps.

"What happened to them!" Annakhin cried, running over to where Damien and Skayr stood, "you found her! Is she alright? What happened? What's wrong with Bobby?" Damien stopped her,

"slow down, Bobby took a hit from a giant snake, I'm pretty sure she broke a few ribs, and, Azuril...well, I'll explain later. What's up with Zykan? And what do you mean he 'happened'?" he said.

"Long story. Let's find a doctor first. This freak's sick and if Bobby has broken ribs she needs a doctor too." Miko said, hoisting Zykan up a bit more, "can we hurry with it, though? He's heavier than he looks." she whined.

"Right. Let's go." Skayr said, shrugging her shoulder to fix the strap on Bobby's boomerang to keep it on her better, "damn! This thing's heavy! How does she just carry it around like it's nothing?" she said, shrugging again.

"I dunno. Ask her when she wakes up. I'm just glad Azuril's weapon is small and I don't have to worry about carrying it separately from her." Damien said, "I have my own weapon to drag around." he added.

"Ok, ok, less talk, more walk. This thing's heavy and I want to get away from him as soon as possible." Miko said, kicking at Damien, who glared at her and started walking.

"So, what did you mean earlier when you said 'Zykan happened'?" Damien asked Miko, who was sitting across from him at a small table in the waiting room of the hospital they gotten to. It was a little nicer, and bigger, than the one they'd gone to for Azuril's shoulder and it was also slightly more expensive.

"He's a goddam freak. That's what I meant." Miko said bluntly. "He wiped out an entire field, along with a bunch of monster bugs and part of the forest you guys were in, with two swings of that scythe of his, one swing to get rid of everything in front of him, and another to get rid of everything behind him. Then he passed out, and now, apparently, he's sick." she, Annakhin had a slightly irritated look on her face.

"He's not a freak. I told you the whole thing before, Miko. And besides, he's not a danger to us unless someone comes after him and needs to get through us." she said, Miko rolled her eyes.

"You only say that because he'll listen to you." she said.

"No, it's true. He's not a danger to us. He won't hurt us, the only way we could be hurt and it would have anything to do with him is if we tried to stop someone who happened to be going after him." she insisted.

"Ok, ok, you two, I think I get it. He wiped out the entire general area around him, then passed out, and got himself sick somehow. And, even though he's a danger to everyone else, including himself, he's no threat to us, he can't hurt us." Damien said, Annakhin nodded. Miko huffed,

"tell them why." she said, Annakhin shook her head,

"not until Bobby and Azuril are up."

"Azuril won't care. Remember?" Miko said.

"I don't know about that, Miko. You weren't there in the woods with us when she appeared. She saved our asses, even though she did something she probably didn't want to happen, ever, to do so." Damien said.

"Like what?" Miko said, Damien shook his head,

"Not until Bobby's awake." he said. Skayr looked at him,

"it was truly amazing though." she said, he nodded.

"Though, I don't think we'll ever get to see it again." he said, Skayr shrugged,

"at least now we know her reasoning, right?" she said, Damien nodded,

"yes." was all he said, then he looked at the two girls sitting across the table from him, he and Skayr said on one side of the table and Annakhin and Miko sat on the other, "we'll wait until Bobby and Azuril are awake, the explain everything, if Azuril wants us to." he said, the two girls nodded their consent.

"How are you feeling?" Annakhin asked Bobby when the group walked into her room, she smirked,

"like shit. And you?" she said.

"Damned confused." Miko said, "thank you for asking." she added, playing along with Bobby's joke.

"You missed one hell of a fiasco." Damien said, "once Azuril and Zykan wake up and get their asses in here, we'll tell you about it." Bobby pouted,

"but I wanna know now." she said, Damien shook his head,

"we need to ask Azuril's permission for part of it." he said.

"We found her?" Bobby said, "she popped up after I passed out?"

"Uh..." Damien and Skayr looked at each other for a second, then they looked back at Bobby and nodded.

"Oh. Cool. How many ribs did I break?" she said, Damien held up four fingers, "not too bad. Coulda been worse. What about Azuril? You're making it sound like this is the second time she's been hospitalized since joining our group."

"She's just really tired. She out cold in the room next to this one." Damien said, "Zykan's bedridden too, he's on the other side of us. Somehow he went and got himself sick enough to pass out in under a second."

"That sounds like Zykan." Bobby said, Skayr nodded, walking over to stand next to the bed, a door opening and closing outside the room made them look at the door, which was soon opened, Azuril walking into the room, closing the door behind her.

" 'morning, Sleeping Beauty." Bobby said, Azuril only gave her a small glare, then she walked over to Damien,

"you didn't get hurt did you? That snake almost had you." she said, he blinked a bit, surprised that she could remember that after turning into a monster, then passing out for several hours.

"No, I'm fine. Thanks to you, Bobby and Skayr and I are fine." he said, she dropped her gaze, leaning against the wall next to him.

"I'm glad that I was of some use to you, Damien. Even in that state..." she said quietly,

"_Some_ use? I was petrified I was so scared of that thing. I would have died. You were the hero there. No matter how you wanna put it. I owe you my life." he said, surprised that she was so upset about having saved him.

"You owe me nothing. I did it out of instinct. Nothing more." she said, he just grinned,

"whatever you say, Azuril. Whatever you say."

"So, what's this big secret about her rescuing you guys that's got her so wound up?" Miko said, Damien sighed,

"is it alright if I tell them?" he asked, Skayr was listening as well, Azuril had saved her life, she would respect the girl's wishes about this thing.

"No. No one else is it know. Not even Bobby, though she was there." Azuril said, Damien and Skayr nodded their consent,

"I won't tell them then." Damien said.

"Nor will I." Skayr said. Azuril thanked them with a curt nod. Then a nurse came in, she looked slightly frightened,

"your friend next-door is up. I'm going to be sending in a doctor in a minute." then she was gone.

"What do you think he did to her?" Damien said,

"she probably just found out he isn't human." Miko said, Bobby looked lost. "We'll tell you later." she said, then she followed the rest of the group out of the room.

"Hey, man, how's it going?" Damien said as he walked into Zykan's room, Zykan gave him a flat look,

"wonderful. Absolutely perfect." he said sarcastically, the robe he normally wore to cover his tattoos was nowhere in sight, and they'd let his hair down, that irked him, Miko tended to tease him about looking like a girl whenever he had his hair down, normally that was a forced action from Annakhin. Damien shrugged,

"just curious." he said as he leaned against the wall next to the bed, Annakhin sat on a chair next to the bed, Zykan involuntarily twitched. Then the girl next to him frowned slightly and lowered her gaze, ready to be yelled at,

"I told Miko...about the bracelet." she said, Zykan's eyes widened considerably, then he snapped his head around to look at Annakhin,

"you what! Why!" he cried, the girl looked away a little more,

"she wanted to know how you were able to attack like you did. So, I told her." Annakhin said. Zykan whined pathetically. "I'm sorry, I needed to tell her something. I couldn't very well lie to her, now, could I?"

"Yes!" he said, "why me?" he moaned, covering his face with his hands, "I suppose now everyone else is curious."

"Yes, they are." Annakhin said,

"and I suppose that, if you don't tell them, Miko will." he whined.

"Yes, I will." the girl said. Zykan glared coldly at her,

"why are you such a bitch?" he snapped, Miko was about to snap back at him, but the nurse from earlier walked into the room, a doctor following her.

"If you all could please clear out now." The nurse said, motioning towards the door. Damien paused, noticing a suspicious look on Azuril's face.

"What is it?" he asked, she shook her head,

"nothing." she said, but she stopped next to the doctor and nurse on her way out, "hurt him, and I will prove to you how inhuman I am as well." she threatened, leaving both of them watching her leave, pale faced.

"What was that about?" Damien said, watching Azuril close the door to Zykan's room, then lean against the wall next to it so she could hear what was going on inside the room.

"They are not in there for just a quick check up. Zykan is under orders not to hurt anyone, he cannot fight back because of that rule. They will try to hurt him. They are human, they fear what they do not understand until they understand it. In order to understand another living being fully, they believe they must know it inside and out. They believe they need to see the differences to confirm they exist. They have seen the outside, now, if not monitored, they will see the insides." she said, "a living being on a lab table, waiting to be cut and changed, that is something I won't allow. Even if I need to cross over a new level of sins." she added, resting her hand on her gun. Damien's eyes widened, she was willing to kill to rescue Zykan, if her theory proved correct. If it did prove correct, then that meant Zykan was as good as gutted behind that door.

"We should get him out of there and leave, before those guys figure too much out about him." he said, following Azuril completely, she was right, if they were curious, they'd try to figure it out, that would mean poking around inside a still living being. Not happen.

"What about Bobby?" Annakhin said, "we can't leave her, and we can't move her, that'll just hurt her worse."

"Maybe one of us should go in there and keep and eye on the doctor and nurse, make sure Zykan lives to se tomorrow." Miko said, she may not get along with Zykan, but she didn't want him turned into a science experiment.

"I'll go." Annakhin said, "I can tell him whether it's ok to fight back or not." then she went into the room. Half an hour went by, everyone tense and watching the door. Azuril not moving from her spot. Still resting her hand on her gun, paranoid style ready, just incase. Skayr had gone in by Bobby and Damien and Miko were watching the door fixedly. Suddenly, there was a loud crash inside the room, Azuril dove away from the door right before it swung open and Zykan bolted out of the room, Annakhin running out after him,

"Zykan, it's alright, it's just a blood test." she said calmly, Zykan peeked out from behind Damien,

"no way in hell! I let them prod at me enough!" he said frantically, he still sounded exhausted, and Damien could hear his breathing, labored slightly and coming out in short fast gasps.

"Zykan, maybe you should go back in there and let them do the blood test." he said, Zykan shook his head,

"No! That is a damned big needle, and there is no way I am willingly getting stabbed by it." he said, then he was up on the ceiling, staring fearfully down at the needle that he was so freaked out by. "Even from up here it looks huge! Not a chance in hell, man!" the doctor dropped the syringe, staring in shock at the fact that Zykan was now up on the ceiling, the nurse was in a similar state.

"What is he!" the nurse cried,

"That's a very good question, when I come up with an answer, I'll tell you." Damien said, Azuril nodded. As if to say 'I told you so', directed at Damien, did his best to not notice her.

"She was odd enough, but this!" the doctor cried, looking from Azuril to Zykan, who crawled down the wall a bit, snagged his scythe from an unsuspecting Miko, and skittered back up onto the ceiling.

"Zykan, he dropped the needle, get your ass down here." Damien said sternly,

"not on your life!" Zykan snapped, "the needle's still down there! I am not coming down until it's gone."

"We could always us a tranqu gun." Miko said, Damien gave her an odd look.

"If that involves needles, no, you can't!" Zykan snapped, "and, I am yay close to heading for the roof, I'll have you know!" everyone watched as Azuril picked up the needle, walking towards the center of the room, messing around with her gun, finally, she aimed at him,

"come down by the needle, or I send it up by you. Which do you prefer?" she said. He just stared,

"you're crazy." he said bluntly.

"And I'm giving you ten seconds to chose-more needles." She said, looking over her shoulder for a second, then back at Zykan, shooting at him, he yelped and skittered away from where the needle hit,

"you said ten seconds! That was only, like, two!" he cried,

"I never was good with math." she said, loading another needle, "next time won't be a warning shot, chose before I shoot you."

"She's a very direct and to the point person, isn't she?" Damien said,

"yeah, looks that way." Miko said, then she looked at Annakhin, "why don't you just tell him he has to come down?"

"Because I don't want to force him to do something that he thinks will hurt him. That's just not right." she said. Azuril fired again, this time Zykan fell off the ceiling, landing on a couch near the door, swearing the entire time.

"Your blood sample." Azuril said, gesturing to Zykan, who was ripping the needle out of his arm, cursing in several languages none of them understood, he then threw the needle at the doctor.

"I am never co-operating with managed health care again! Never, dammit!" he spat, glaring daggers at Azuril, "and stop shooting at me!" he snapped, then he had a gun in his face.

"Try to give me orders one more time, I dare you." she said, Zykan shook his head,

"no, I'm good." he said, Azuril put her gun away.

"Sorry about that spazoid. Did you get enough or does he need to be shot again?" Damien said, giving the doctor and nurse an apologetic look.

"No, this should be fine. You can leave if you want to." the doctor said shakily.

"We aren't going anywhere until Bobby can come with us." Skayr said, standing in the doorway to Bobby's room, "you will need to adjust." Damien snickered a bit at the horrified look on the doctor's face, the nurse was well on her way out of the room, the blood sample acting as her excuse for escape. Miko then spoke up,

"Yeah, those three-" she gestured to Skayr, Zykan and Azuril, "-may look, or act scary, but they're harmless unless pissed off. Even then, the ones with the weapons won't use them, they're under strict orders not to." Zykan flipped her off behind her back.

"Nevertheless, I'm not sure they're safe to have in here...especially the ones with weapons, I'll have to ask them to leave, for fear of them scaring any patients." the doctor said. Skayr growled angrily,

"a friend of mine is in one of your rooms here and now suddenly I am not allowed to visit her? I suggest you think that over again." she said, then she promptly walked back into Bobby's room.

"Now you have nothing to worry about from her. Even with broken ribs, Bobby would beat the shit out of her if she did something remotely stupid. Like a reverse bodyguard." Damien assured him. All the doctor did was nod slowly, then point to Zykan, who was sitting on the couch he'd landed on earlier, his scythe leaning against the wall next to him.

"Don't worry. He's the least harmful of them all. He's not allowed to touch that thing until he has to pick it up while he's walking out of the hospital. You have no idea how short a leash he's on." Miko said, again, she was flipped off.

"Choke chain style short." Zykan muttered, brooding on that fact.

"I'm sorry, but the gun..." the doctor started, pointing to Azuril. Damien gave a loud sigh, then turned to Azuril.

"Azuril, gimme your gun until we leave the hospital." he said, holding out his hand. She hesitated, looked at the doctor for a long second, in Damien's opinion, it looked like she was judging him with her eyes alone, then she walked towards Damien, taking the gun, holster and all, off of her, unfortunately for her, that meant she needed to use both hands, her left arm still frightened the doctor, she walked away from Damien, standing next to the door, Zykan grabbing his scythe and laid it down on the floor at his feet. Damien looked at the doctor, who was a whole new shade of white as he looked at the pair by the door, some inhuman being, who still lacked his robe, thus making him very uneasy, and a girl that had a left arm made mostly of metal, the wardrobe did nothing to save her either. "She's perfectly safe. You don't need to worry. She hates even showing that thing, even if it's necessary at times, and don't ask me to hang onto it while we're in the hospital, I don't know how she'll react to that. She's probably slightly pissed with me for taking her gun. But she's safe. She's too cautious to be a danger to anyone." he assured the pallid doctor, who nodded slowly, backing away from the group, once he was near the door to the lab the nurse had gone into earlier, Zykan smirked,

"boo!" he said, falling off the couch laughing when the doctor turned tail and ran for it.

"Zykan! Dude, you are sick!" Damien said, trying to sound unamused, though he wanted to laugh too.

"Thanks." Zykan said as he sat up on the ground, "so, what now?"

"Now you sit stone still and exercise the phrase 'silent as the dead', or you could let me bash your head in for being such a little prick!" Miko snapped, for the third time since they'd entered the waiting room, she was flipped off,

"I'll do what I please, thank you." he said, then he jumped straight up and rested on the ceiling.

"Geddown, moron! Someone will see you!" Damien hissed.

"Who the hell looks at the ceiling when they walk into a room? Besides you guys, that is." he said flatly, the group, save Azuril, who didn't really care in any respect, looked amongst themselves,

"he has a point." Annakhin said, "if it weren't for the fact that I already know someone who can walk on the ceiling, I don't think I'd look up to try to find someone walking up there."

"She has point." Damien said, "if I didn't know him, I wouldn't walk around staring at the ceiling. Miko, I know you wouldn't either. So, as long as he stays clear any doors or windows, I think he's fine, screw what I said earlier."

"Thank you." Zykan said in a fake overjoyed voice, Damien grinned and flipped him off, the gesture was returned and the pair broke down laughing.

"Boys are weird." Annakhin said, watching the pair of boys laugh, Miko nodded,

"I second that. And I've know one of them for a pretty long time, what's that tell ya about him?"

"He has a very strong sense of endurance?" Azuril said, still stoic, Miko glared,

"who said you could talk?" she said, Annakhin started giggling at the pair's similarities to Damien and Zykan. Suddenly, Bobby could be heard from her room, setting everyone straight-faced with her tone,

"shut up! I'm trying to sleep, and, Zykan, get off the damn ceiling already!" she yelled, obviously annoyed. They could hear Skayr laughing from Bobby's room.

"Why did you let her stay again?" Zykan said as he landed next to Damien, walking back over to the couch then sitting down.

"I wonder that myself." Damien said, flopping down next to Zykan, Miko and Annakhin occupied another, smaller, couch and Azuril kept her spot, standing by the door. Then Miko spoke up,

"how long will we be waiting here? I mean broken bones take a long time to heal. We can't sit here this entire time. We'll need to find someplace to stay, long tern, for now." she said, the rest of the group looked thoughtful

"I saw an inn on the way through here." Annakhin said,

"that would be a good place to start." Damien said, Zykan nodding his head in agreement.

"Well, Bobby's the one with all of the money. Let's go discuss things with her." Miko said, then she paused and looked at Azuril and Zykan, "then we can hear some stories." she said, the pair looked each other, knowing what she meant,

"may I shoot her?" Azuril said, looking at Damien, who still had her gun.

"No. And, somehow I doubt one shot would do it." he said as they walked into Bobby's room,

"who said anything about one?" Azuril muttered, Damien gave her a look.

"Well, the circus is back in town. Hi, guys." Bobby said, Zykan kept up his earlier antics and flipped her off. "No thanks, I'm waiting for a human man."

"What! You-" Damien put a hand over Zykan's mouth, then pointed to Bobby,

"don't provoke him, we're in a hospital." he let his hand drop away from Zykan's mouth, Zykan then ended his earlier interrupted statement,

"bitch." he was then smacked upside the head by Damien,

"shut up, now." he hissed, Zykan decided against arguing and opted for glaring at Damien.

"Do we have to tell my life's story? Because I know that's what you're gonna do-whoa..." Zykan swayed a bit, looking dizzy, "can I sit down and not get stepped on?" he said, apparently still ill.

"There's a chair over here, Zykan." Bobby said, pointing to a chair next to her bed. The next thing they knew, Zykan was in said chair looking exhausted.

"How did you-" Miko started, Annakhin overlapped her, scolding Zykan,

"you know if you're sick you shouldn't use too many tricks. Especially not teleporting or anything near that sort of thing, if you pass out in the middle of the trip who knows what would happen." Zykan rolled his eyes,

"I'm fine, I'm just tired. I'll be back to tormenting you people in no time." he said, Damien looked at him curiously,

"Zykan, if you're tired why don't you go back to your room from earlier and lay down." he suggested, Zykan shook his head

"no. I'm ok. Just tired. I don't need to lay down." he insisted.

"Let him be." Azuril said, everyone was looking at her now, she almost never spoke, and when she did it was always very short-lived, she also was defending someone, none of them had any idea whether the world had ended, or hell had frozen over, they couldn't pick.

"What?" Damien said in some disbelief, he was dumbstruck as well as the rest of the group, he'd heard her talk, held conversations with her at best, but now she was defending someone, something he never expected to hear.

"Let him be. If he is tired, let him be tired, if he is still ill then he will need help. Wait to see which it is. Let it be for a while, Damien." she said, she'd said more than one sentence in front of people she didn't even really know or, according to her, give a damn about. Damien nodded slowly,

"alright. We'll move on." he said, Zykan was staring stupidly at Damien, then Azuril, then back to Damien,

"she talked." he said, Damien nodded,

"she does that now and then." he said, then he looked at Miko, "you said something about these two telling us stories. What the hell was that about?"

"Well, our resident weirdo over there has quite the interesting life behind him." she said, pointing to Zykan, who glared at Annakhin,

"I hate you." he stated bluntly, knowing she told Miko all while he was out cold.

"I'm sorry, but she wanted to know how you did what you did." Annakhin said, "I couldn't very well lie to her, now, could I?" Zykan gave a raged sigh, putting a hand to his forehead, as though he was checking his temperature,

"didn't those two say that earlier?" Miko whispered to Damien, who shrugged,

"oh, well. Let her talk." he said, waiting for Annakhin to speak. He looked at Zykan for a second, he gave raged sigh, then waved his hand dismissively,

"no, go ahead. Do your thing ro whatever. I'm on the wrong end of the leash when it comes to giving commands." he said tiredly, letting his hand drop away from his face, then he paused for a second, thinking on something, then he looked at Damien, " come here, I need to double check something." he said, once Damien was at his side he stood up and tried the same thing he had before, this time with a little help from some one who wasn't him. He looked thoughtful again, then grabbed one of Damien's wrists and put his hand against his forehead (you followed that all, right?) Damien jumped back, pulling back away from Zykan,

"Dammit! Now I'm dragging your ass back to your damn room! I think you burned me!" he snapped, grabbing Zykan by the arm and dragging him out of the room.

"Oh, dear." Annakhin said, sounding worried, "do you think he'll be alright?"

"Who? Damien or Zykan?" Bobby said, Skayr and Miko snickering at that.

"Zykan. He's still sick, what do you thing it is?" Annakhin said.

"Most likely a virus. It'll pass." Bobby said, waving her hand dismissively. Damien walked back into the room,

"Ok, I got him to sit still-"

"with what? Did you bash him over the head with something?" Miko said, all, save Annakhin and Azuril, snickered a bit.

"Don't joke. It's not nice to do that." Annakhin said, sounding like a mother scolding her child.

"No, Miko, no physical trauma was involved, the illness saved me from hitting him. He passed out mid argument." Damien said, "now, what was he babbling about earlier? And what was it you were saying, Miko? The two topics seemed vaguely linked." he said, the end of it being half sarcasm

"he's an even bigger hazard to himself and others, mostly others, than we originally thought! We should worship Annakhin for being here!" Miko started to yell, she was hit with Bobby's boomerang. "Ow! What the-?"

"Thank you, Skayr." Bobby said, the fiery-eyed girl only gave a nod, then leaned the weapon against the wall where she'd gotten it from.

"That reminds me, should we go grab the lunatic's scythe?" Damien said, Azuril left the room, only to come back in several seconds later, carrying Zykan's scythe, which she leaned against the wall near Bobby's boomerang. "Ok, problem solved." he said, sounding a little surprised.

"Well, now that that's all done and over with, what were we talking about? I never did properly catch the topic." Bobby said, Damien sighed and looked at Azuril,

"are you sure you don't want them to know?" he said, she nodded, "ok. I'll just be remotely sketchy, Skayr and I got into some trouble and Azuril saved us. There's the story, leave it be." he said, looking at Miko, then at Bobby when he specified that the topic was to be killed right here and now.

"Ok, ok!" Miko said, waving her hands in mock defeat, "geez."

"Ok, and, Skayr, double checking your silence." Damien said, looking at Skayr, who nodded,

"I will keep my word and vow of silence for her." she said, then she looked at Bobby, "your life was saved as well, by Azuril."

"I thought as much. Well, I'm killing the topic and, just to be safe on it all, I give you my vow of silence for whatever it is they're shutting up about." Bobby said, Azuril gave a nod of recognition,

"that is much appreciated." she said, Bobby gave a thumbs up,

"no problem. Anything for the person that saved my ass." she said, then she turned to Damien, "now, what were we talking about?"

"Well, we got our story out of the way, Miko, Annakhin, your turn." Damien said, turning to look at the two girls.

"Annakhin, you tell it. All I know is that he's got a powerful swing." Miko said, Annakhin sighed, then started talking.

"Well, back near the time when magic was finally being used in an organized sense, sorcerers were being born from magic and humans, but, with light comes dark, and, as the strength concentration of light magic grew, the strength and concentration of dark magic grew just as steadily. Finally, so much light magic was born that it needed to pull itself into one physical being, so it created one. A wizard made of pure white magic. But, like I said a second ago, too much light meant too much dark and the dark magic found itself in the same predicament the light magic had been in. It mimicked the light magic, pulling itself together into one physical being made purely of black magic and, since there were no dark sorcerers strong enough to withstand its pull, they were added to the mix of dark magic as well, most of the dark sorcerers were absorbed into the darkness, the ones that weren't were very careful not to make any mistakes with their magic while the dark magic was manifesting its physical form."

"Wait, a person made of pure magic, no human flesh and blood at all?" Damien said, Annakhin nodded,

"why did it take so long for the dark magic to figure itself out?" Miko asked, she hadn't heard this part before.

"Because its supply increased by the day. More and more sorcerers were switching sides, not intentionally, mind you. They decided to pull back from using their magic at all, thinking that, now that the wizard made of light magic was around, they wouldn't need to do anything magic related anymore, so they used magic at times to placate themselves, the stereotype making pots and pans wash themselves and make their meals for them and things of that sort. That improper use of their magic gave the dark magic a sliver of selfishness and narcissistic thoughts to slip through, turning the magic the sorcerer possessed slowly darker, until it was tainted enough for it to be absorbed. once it had slimmed out the entire magic supply on both the light and dark sides, it began to turn itself into a solid being, just like the light magic had. And it became stronger and stronger with people's growing ill-will towards others and other darker thoughts."

"Made by more sorcerers I'm guessing, right?" Damien said, tilting his head to the side a bit in confusion when she shook her head,

"it had gotten to the point where it was so strong it could feed off of any type of human aura, magic or not, it's still able to do so, even today.. The wizard made of light magic tried to destroy, or at least subdue, the large source of black magic before it could attain a true physical body, but he was the seconds too late. Just as he launched his attack on the mass of dark magic, it pulled itself together into one physical being, still absently feeding on the darker part of the human mind and aura, the dark magic fought back, the wizard tried with everything he had to nullify the daemon made of black magic, but you can't have light without dark, that balance is impossible to break. All the wizard managed to do was slow the darkness' pace a little bit. Knowing that light must always have a dark side and vise-versa, he used every last bit of magic he had, sacrifice all of himself, to seal the darkness, knowing that the dark, when hit by the light, has to balance itself, when the seal was made the light and dark were still waging a war to balance themselves, but the darkness couldn't grow anymore, surrounded by light that it had to keep in tune with, growing more would probably destroy both of the beings inside the seal." she paused for questions,

"so the light magic turned into a physical being, and the dark magic turned itself into a physical being, but the darkness could continue to grow because it fed off of dark magic and the darkness inside humans in general?" Miko said, Annakhin nodded,

"and, to stop the darkness from growing anymore, the light turned itself into a seal to put a lid on the darkness, and the darkness couldn't break the seal because if it overbalanced the scale at all it would destroy both itself and the light?" Bobby said, Annakhin nodded again,

"why would it destroy both itself and the light if it tipped the scale?" Skayr asked, but Azuril surprised them by answering,

"because if it tipped the scales too much there wouldn't be enough light magic to balance it out right away. If they are uneven, the balance, the key to their true existence, would be destroyed, therefore they too would fall without anything to hold them together." she said, Annakhin nodded,

"exactly."

"So, the seal stuck for how long?" Bobby asked,

"the seal stuck for thousands of years. The sorcerers that used light magic built a shrine and temple for the seal, and the shrine was a memorial of the light magic trapped inside the seal. Magic users go to the temple to pray and give offerings, just like going to a synagogue. They say that, if you use magic, then your powers with grow slightly while you pray at the temple." Annakhin said, "but, they hid the seal far too well for treasure hunters to find it, if someone with selfish intent found it and broke the seal, the darkness would be able to escape, slipping through the dark thoughts of the person who released it. Then the original form it took all those centuries ago would return and the seal and the person who broke it, with dark intent, a true heart will keep the balance, would be useless and would have no power over the darkness, setting it free and, without a true and large source of light magic, possibly twice the size of the wizard who cast the seal, there would be nothing but darkness and devastation everywhere the dark magic went."

"But someone with a good heart can control it?" Bobby said, Annakhin nodded,

"the light would balance the darkness, the light magic from the seal and the pureness of the person who broke it would balance out the darkness in its weakened state from all that time being sealed up."

"So, what's that have to do with anything? It was an awesome piece of info, but, what relevance does it have to our conversation?" Damien said, he was sitting in the chair Zykan had been in, he'd pulled it away from the bed, turned it around so the back was in the front and flopped down on it, Azuril standing at his side, watching the entire thing. Annakhin, who was seated on the foot of the bed sighed, then started talking again.

"What I said before, about the place where the seal was being hidden and it being a shrine to the wizard that sealed the darkness, and, about the myth about a sorcerer or anyone wielding magic' power grown slightly if they were to pray in the temple, I went to see the shrine that I'd heard about from my mother. When I got there, no one else was around. I wondered if this was a holy day of some kind and the temple was off limits. But something told me to keep going. I went inside the temple and found a door was opened on the opposite side of the alter from me so I went to close it, but I noticed several other doors were opened after that one, like a hallway with doors blocking it in many places, but they were all opened. I really was slightly frightened by it, but, I don't know why, a gut feeling of some kind, maybe, something made me keep walking down the hall, there were twists and turns and so many doors everywhere. Finally I saw a, literal, light at the end of the tunnel, and it was a beautiful room made with some kind of pure white stone with a fountain made from the same white stone as the room was, all of it looked so new, so beautiful. There was a small alter in the middle of the room, when I got closer to it, I could see carvings in the stone the alter was made of, they were spells written in a language I didn't know, and there were carvings of strange creatures, which, now I can only assume, had to have been of demons and creatures from the dark magic in the myths I'd heard. The alter had a bracelet on it, more writing encircled the bracelet, stronger spells, I guess. I couldn't help myself, I had to see the bracelet better, I picked it up and gave it a closer inspection. Again, I think some of you in her can sympathize with me here, I couldn't help it, I wanted to try it on, but something wasn't right about the bracelet, it seemed colder, in a way, evil. But, when I put I back on the alter, the words from the spells lit up like a flame, and the bracelet wouldn't stay down on the alter, no matter how hard I tried to get it to stay, it just wouldn't. So I held onto it while I started running away from the alter. Before I could get to the door, it closed, then someone said something..."

(My fave, flashback)

"_hey! And just where is it you think you're going?" came a boy's voice out of nowhere,_

"_what? Who said that? Where are you?" Annakhin cried, looking around, no one was there, the alter was still glowing, and now it was getting brighter, there was a blinding flash of light and a scythe was suspended in the air above the alter, "what the-!"_

"_Hey, you're telling me! Now put the damned bracelet on!" the voice snapped,_

"_why? Who are you?"_

"_Because I said so, and that's none of your damn business!" was the only response made._

"_But-" she looked up when the carvings of the strange creatures started leaking a strange mist that spiraled around the scythe calmly, "what's going on?"_

"_I'm getting pissed, that's what. I'm not saying it again. Put. The damn. Bracelet. On. And. Get. Me. Out. Of here. Next time I'm seeing if I can somehow crack the code and strangle you for being so damned slow!"_

"_Why's this happening? Tell me, and then I'll put the bracelet on! I promise!" Annakhin cried, holding the bracelet at arm's length away from her._

"_Fine! If I'm not loose yet you must be an honest individual, ok, it's because you looked with your hands and not with your eyes. Now you're in the middle of doing something, and you'd better damn well finish it!" the voice said, clearly extremely pissed off._

"_Ok!" Annakhin clasped the bracelet around her wrist, then flew backward from the shove of an unseen force, the room when black and she feared she'd somehow been blinded by the bracelet's doings. After a moment, the darkness cleared, disappearing like smoke. She stood up, brushing herself off a bit, then she looked at the bracelet, "what now?"_

"_Now, we have a chat." the voice from earlier said, but it sounded different this time, closer. She looked up to find a boy of seemingly her age, he was wearing black boots, a black tunic that went down to his knees, and a black robe that was left open that looked slightly too big for him, some abnormalities caught Annakhin's eye though, someone dressed as though they were from a different time was wearing a fingerless glove on his left hand, holding onto the scythe that had been suspended in the air earlier, it was standing straight up off the floor now, a long leather band around his neck that tied tightly around his neck like a choker and had a strange symbol that looked vaguely familiar hanging down as a charm of some kind hung off of it and several thick belts, two tightened, two hanging looser around his waist, an earring on his left ear, shaped like another familiar symbol and several rings on his left hand, all engraved with different symbols, all looked somehow familiar were the man made oddities, long, unbound blond hair (dirty blond) hung down his back, stopping at the bottom of the alter, which he was sitting on, was something that might contradict the time period his clothing, the robes that is, suggested he came from. The scythe and extra adornments mixed her up on time periods and any possible place he may be from. The one thing that stuck out the most was the boy's eyes, they were an unidentifiable shade of green and had slitted pupils. He cocked his head to the side, revealing several symbols tattooed on the side of his throat, they too looked familiar. "What? What'd I do?" he asked, confused, she snapped out of her daze and finally eyed up the scythe, he looked at it, made a small amused noise and laid the scythe across his lap, "there, now I'm hoping it doesn't look like I might kill you." she paled slightly, "don't worry. I can't lay a finger on you if you don't want me to. Lucky you." now she was confused._

"_What? What do you mean? Where did you come from? Who are you? what are you? Why are you here-?" she started babbling, finally the boy put his hands over his ears, _

"_Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down, Missy! Too many question, too short a gap between them. Cool it. Take it slower, I ain't goin' anywhere." he said frantically, then he relaxed and straightened up, " ok, I'm good."_

"_What did you mean when you said you can't if I don't want you to come near me? Wouldn't it be you 'won't'?"_

"_Oh, you're a grammar freak, joy..." the boy muttered under his breath, "I mean, unless you say it's ok, I can't do jack-shit. But, you have to tell me I'm allowed to. Or you could just never tell me to do anything and see how long I last, but I'd prefer you not do that, if that's fine by you."_

"_So I have to tell you whether or not it's ok for you to do something?" he nodded, "why?"_

"_I think this'll answer a few more questions from your storm of questions earlier. Because, sorry to put it weird sounding, but, you own me now." he smacked his forehead in frustration when she only looked more lost. "Ok...let's try this again. You asked what I meant when I said I can't do something if you don't say it's ok, as well as why I'm here. Because you're the one wearing the bling, I need to do what you say. Things don't go well for me if I disagree with you or don't do what I'm told. The bracelet is like the 'shock' button for a shock collar. If you need it put simpler than that, you own me, like a servant or a pet...ouch. That hurt to say that."_

"_What about who you are, and you didn't really answer why you're here. Where you just appeared from. As well as what just happened here and what you are." Annakhin said_

"_why I'm here, where I just popped up from, who I am and what I am all connect with each other. Sort of anyway. Why I'm here; you let me loose, Missy. I'm here because you opened my cell door. Where I just popped up from; one word, 'bracelet'. That's where I was trapped in until you put it on and broke the seal, thus allowing me to breath fresh air once again. Thanks for that, by the way." now it wasn't confusion, it was shock, she backed up away from him until the wall stopped her, he watched her silently for a moment, then gave a Cheshire Cat grin, revealing fangs, like what she figured a vampire might have, "you also wanted to know what and who I am, right? Well, the name's Zykan, where I truly came from is hundreds of years worth of packed in black magic, thousands of years ago, here, where I was finally sealed away by that damn wizard, and what I am has pretty well been answered for you, I'm pure black magic and human wickedness and malice. Why I'm here, I was sealed in that bracelet, like I mentioned a second ago, and locked away in wherever here is." he gestured around the room, "after thousands of years imprisonment in a fucking piece of jewelry, I'm out again, but, you're obviously pure of heart, otherwise I'd have eaten your soul and figured out some way to dispose of the body somehow a while ago. And since you're pure of heart, no matter how powerful I am, or might get, and no matter how much I may want to do something, or just get my ass the hell out of here right now, I can't because you control me. You have the other half of the seal and, unless you want me gone and either seal me back up or break the seal completely, I need to follow you, I'm still connected to that thing." he paused for a second, "you can faint now, if that's what you're hoping you could get to." he started playing with the charm on the band tied around his neck as Annakhin fell over in a dead faint_

_she woke up sputtering and coughing a bit when cold water was poured on her face. _

"_Knew that fountain might just have a purpose." she heard Zykan say to himself as she sat up and rubbed her eyes to get the water away from them. "You were lying there for, like, an hour, at best, and I got bored. Sorry." he said, then he dropped his outer robe on her head, "there, now you won't have to worry about wet hair, dry of if ya want." she moved the robe off of her head so it was resting on her shoulders and looked up at him, another oddity, the tunic he wore under the robe that seemed too big for him had no sleeves, just a bit of fabric thick enough to make it at least a tank top sort of thing, she also took notice of the symbols tattooed on his upper arm on both arms, all of them familiar but from where she couldn't remember. He rolled his eyes and gave her a slightly annoyed look, "are you just gonna sit and stare all day? Cuz I could just find a corner to sleep in until you're done."_

"_Oh, no. I'm sorry. It's just...you were made thousands of years ago and you're talking and acting like someone from the here and now might. And you're dressed far differently than everyone else must ha back when you were created." she said, he folded his arms over his chest, keeping his annoyed look,_

"_I was waiting for that. Talk and walk." he said, pointing to the door, it was open and she could finally leave the strange catacomb like tunnels of the temple. "Keep that until your hair's dry, it's kind of cold out there and you might catch a cold or something. However it works with you people." she stared at him in shock,_

"_how did you know that it-"_

"_I'm not stupid. I could feel it even down here. It's fall, right? Damn, I missed summer. But, in any case, let's continue, shall we? Now, what was it you were asking about? My clothes? No, most of this stuff doesn't go with the time period. The robe's the only thing from thousands of years ago that's stayed in tact."_

"_But, then, what about everything else? How did you get all of this stuff if you were trapped in that seal for so long?" she stopped walking and pointed to one of his tattoos, "and what are all of these? I've seen them before, but I can't remember-"_

"_back into my hell-hole." he said, leading her back into the room the bracelet had been in. He pointed to the alter with his scythe, "the tattoos and the rest of the symbols all over me are carved on that thing. Over time, people got in here, different monks and priests from different religions, and I guess the seal started to weaken or something, I dunno, I was probably asleep. So, to keep me sealed up in that thing, they added more containment spells and symbols, the strongest ones didn't just leave their mark on the stone, they left it on me too., the rings and all this stuff, I dunno where it came from, again, I was asleep, I probably was set free without even knowing it, then whoever set me free must have freaked, put some kind of freak whatever on me and locked me up, probably thinking their little magic charm would help keep me locked up. But, as I stated a second ago, I dunno for sure, I think it looks kinda neat. But that's just me. Now, can we leave? No more questions, please." he gave her a pathetic look, she nodded,_

"_we can go now." she said, her turn to lead the way, she pulled the robe up so that it cover the top of her head, hair still being wet._

_When they left the tunnels and were back on the surface floor, they were met by several priests, Annakhin was the only one out of the pair that even noticed the priests, Zykan was too busy looking around,_

"_things have changed. A lot." he muttered,_

"_what were you doing back in those tunnels? It's dangerous down there, they're also off limits to the public." one of the priests said, Annakhin was nodded frantically,_

"_yes, yes, I figured they were, so I was going to close that door and-" she started, but jumped back when one of the priests interrupted,_

"_the door wasn't open when we came here last, no one's ever found that door. You didn't go inside, did you?" Zykan was yawning lazily, watching Annakhin try to bail them out of this one._

"_Hey, Missy, why don't you just tell them about the damned bracelet?" he said, not realizing he'd said it out loud until it was heard by all, "shit."_

"_Bracelet?" one of the priests said, sounding even more frantic and worried, "what does he mean? What bracelet did you find? Where did you find it?"_

"_I-uh-I-" she sputtered, not knowing what to say, she'd have to tell them the truth Eventually, then, again, Zykan spoke up,_

"_my bracelet. I guess it was here this entire time, sorry bout that." he said, that almost did it, but one of the priests caught a hole in that statement._

"_How did it get in that tunnel, then?" he asked, Zykan faltered, then pulled himself together,_

"_I haven't a clue. I guess someone put it there. Don't ask me to fathom the way people think." he said, trying to be careful. Another glitch,_

"_where is it now?"_

"_uh...we left it down there, it was in too tight a spot when we found it." he attempted quickly, then the questions that sent him running to hide behind Annakhin were asked,_

"_where did you get that scythe from? I'm sure no one let you in here with such a weapon."_

"_Uh-oh..." he squeaked, inching towards Annakhin,_

"_what are those strange marking and charms for?"_

"_Yeep!" he hid behind Annakhin, "sorry, dumping it off on you. I'm in a worse spot than you." there was a pause and then, "can I run?"_

"_No. You have to stay here." Annakhin said, Zykan whined, "I said you're staying, I'm not changing my mind. So, please, don't make this any harder than it already is." she said, he whined again, but followed orders, straightening up and trying not to beg for her to let him run. One of the priests walked over to him and snagged him by the arm, looking at one of his tattoos, then the earring, then the charm on his neck, he motioned for the others to look, "oh, no, I'm sorry I-"_

"_can I run!" he cried frantically, before she could say yes, one of the priests jumped away from Zykan, staring in horrified realization,_

"_it's-that's-" he stammered, Zykan pulled a face at him,_

"_ah, bite me, ya mostly bald old fart." he said, flipping the petrified priest off. "Quit ogling, I'm not a piece of meat." he snapped, pissed already, "is everyone I come across gonna be this weird?" he asked, turning to Annakhin, who was much more nervous and frightened as she probably should have been,_

"_only if they recognize all of those spells." she said, abandoning cautiousness for the time being, "but, you said you can't hurt anyone, right?"_

"_Do you want me to?"_

"_No."_

"_Then no. I can't. you tell me I can, and I probably will. you tell me I can't and I sit and sulk." he said, she gave a nod of understanding, "how fast can you run?"_

"_Um..." before that could turn into coherent speech, they were interrupted yet again by mortified priests,_

"_idiot girl! Do you have any idea what you've done! You have unleashed death and evil incarnate! Fool!"_

"_I like that title." Zykan said, then he looked at Annakhin, "can I keep it?"_

"_No, stick with 'Zykan', it's your real name, after all."_

"_Spoil-sport."_

"_Where is the seal! We need to seal it up again!"_

"'_It'! Hey, I resent that! Please tell me I can hurt him."_

"_Absolutely not."_

"_You really are just a 'no fun' person, aren't you?"_

"_Talk to us, girl, where is the seal!"_

"_I-I-I-I have the bracelet I found. Is that what you mean?" Annakhin stammered, now even more frightened. Both the priests and Annakhin jump back a bit when a scythe suddenly appeared between them, _

"_Shut up, ya whack job. Let her alone. If you're gonna bug out at someone, make it me. I'm the one that this is all centered around, am I not?" Zykan hissed, "well?" he walked between Annakhin and the priests so he was blocking her from view, "anyone wanna issue their complaints? I'm waiting." no one spoke, "damn, that's odd...you were full of live a second ago while you were picking on a girl. But, now, suddenly you're not so noisy? tch. Not surprised, that's sad that you're called priests. I thought that term meant something useful when you people use it." then he turned to Annakhin, "can we please go now?"_

"_Yes. We can go now." Annakhin said, "thank you."_

"_It was nothing, right. You are my contract-bound master after all. It's the least I can do." he said, hefting his scythe up onto his shoulder and following Annakhin out of the temple, leaving the priests too stunned to move._

(End Flashback)

"you mean Zykan's..." Bobby started, but she couldn't figure out anything past that.

"So, this entire time, we've been traveling with the strongest and most terrifying evil this world has ever known?" Skayr asked, stunned,

"yes, I guess that's what I'm saying." Annakhin said, looking down at her hands, folded in her lap. Miko turned to the smaller girl, confused on something,

"if he's so powerful, how come something that must have taken about as much energy as dropping a pin wear him down so much?" she asked, Annakhin shrugged,

"I never let him use any magic that could really hurt people, I always had him keep it low, like teleporting or small little tricks like what you've seen him do this entire time. Maybe this is part of what happens if he goes against what I told him was his limit. I never wanted to see what he was capable, I was afraid I'd just let him do what he wanted all the time for fear of him somehow hurting me. But now he might be sick because of me." she said sadly.

"Nah, it isn't your fault. Everyone gets sick, even the physical manifestation of all of the evil and darkness this world has to offer." Bobby said, but, Damien rained on that parade,

"I dunno, he did get dizzier and feverish when you were chiding him earlier. Maybe there is a connection. Why don't you loosen the reins a bit and see how he does." Annakhin smiled and nodded,

"alright. That sounds reasonable." she said, suddenly, the evil in question, slammed the door to the room open,

"Help me!" he cried, running into the room and diving behind Annakhin, "they're trying to kill me!"

"Zykan, if you're freaking out about another blood test-"

"No, Damien, he isn't. I can smell it, did they cut you at all?" Skayr said, Zykan nodded slightly, then licked at a cut on his forearm. "I thought so. I smelled it a while ago, but I ignored it. My apologies." Zykan shrugged,

"s'ok, now you can save my life." he said, Zykan's outfit and choice in adornments hadn't been altered since he was freed, he'd cut a decent portion of his hair off, though, now it ended at the end of his shoulder blades, when the robe he wore was taken off, the sleeveless tunic showed off all of the seals tattooed onto his upper arms and back, some near his collarbone, the charm around his neck hadn't been removed, nor had the earring or the rings. After he'd been awakened, frantic priests were quick to send word to other temples about him, some of the symbols that could be found on him were hung in certain places like wanted posters. Obviously the hospital staff either saw the posters or went to church, they'd found the manifestation of all evil in mankind's history. A doctor and two orderlies stood in the doorway now, Annakhin and Miko stopped Zykan's frantic attempt to grab his scythe,

"Annakhin has you under orders not to hurt people, imagine how sick you'll get if you kill someone, you moron!" Miko snapped, holding him back, Skayr went after Bobby's boomerang,

"Don't." Bobby said, "it's too big. You might either hit someone you didn't mean to, or do some really serious damage. And I know what you're thinking, don't move from that chair." she ordered, then she winced and relaxed to the best of her abilities.

"This is where I sorely regret leaving my sword in the waiting room." Damien said, inching back, away from the door, Azuril, on the other hand, was moving forward, she grabbed Damien by the collar of his shirt,

"give. Me. My gun." she seethed, he held up said item, she grabbed it and had it aimed at the doorway in a second, "I am positive you don't wish to see me truly angry-" she started, that statement made Skayr and Damien look at each other with terror stricken looks on their faces, they'd seen her mad, it didn't end well for the surrounding wild life, and it was just damned terrifying, "-so I would suggest you abandon any intent to harm him and walk away before I shoot all three of you without hesitation." she said, walking forward, now she was blocking the group from the three men in the doorway, who had their hands up, "walk away." she said calmly, taking several steps forward, they moved with her, "you must think of him as evil if you are trying to kill him."

"He is, idiot, don't you pay any attention to anything that's going on-?" one of the orderlies started, but a warning shot silenced him.

"I pay attention to what is truly worth seeing. He is no more evil than anyone else in that room. I ignored it all, for quite some time, actually. But what I have heard and seen while with them has made me think about a great many things, what evil really is, how it can be classified when speaking about someone, most importantly if I follow what makes someone evil, and find much of those traits in myself, am I evil?" they were in the center of the waiting room now, the first thing Azuril did was kick Damien's katana under one of the couches, no surprises. "If Zykan is evil, then I am truly doomed to the darkest pits of hell." she lowered her gun, "I can't shoot you, not while I've made a promise not to kill unnecessarily, but if Damien had not held me to that, I would have shot you by now. Leave them alone. Not one more attempt to harm any one of them. Am I understood?" they trio of men nodded, pale in the face. "Good." she then turned and started towards the room Damien and company were in, of course, no grown man will allow a woman to just walk away after insulting him and scaring him into submission, one of the orderlies raised a hand to hit her from behind.

"Azuril-!" Damien started, but stopped abruptly when the girl swung around fast, grabbing the man's arm tightly when he brought it down, using her left hand to hold him in place,

"I said 'not one more attempt'. I meant myself as well. Do you want to test my temper's limits?" she said threateningly, eyes flashing, he shook his head, "good." she let go of him, straightening up and glaring the men down, "because I didn't want to have to kill you and break a promise...to a friend." Damien smiled, Bobby and Skayr gave each other knowing looks, Annakhin just smiled as well, Zykan shuddered, he'd figured out Damien right away, he hated that kind of stuff, it made him nauseous, Miko was the only one who looked miffed, but she was ignored.

All of that needless to say they weren't at that town too long after that, they needed to leave before word spread that the Devil and his Advocate were nearby. Their progress was slow, though, Bobby still being injured.

"This bites, we've been walking around for almost two days and we've found nothing." Zykan said, he'd been complaining since the sun had come up that morning. Damien groaned, he was about to kill the annoying Evil,

"Well, there has to be a town around here somewhere. We'll find it. Hopefully before I strangle you with your own hair." he said, Zykan paled slightly, shaking his head, he didn't feel like being strangled, especially not if his own hair was being used to do it.

"I've always wanted to see that done..." Skayr said, thinking out loud, Bobby and Damien gave her disturbed looks, Annakhin just sighed in exasperation, this would defiantly be ten times as difficult as it had been before the group knew about Zykan.

"You're the reason we needed to leave in the first place." Miko said, he glared at her,

"if it were my fault that I'm despised world wide, you would have either abandoned me there or killed me yourself a while back." he said,

"I had no idea I was traveling with evil incarnate." Miko defended herself with that,

"ignorance was blissful." Zykan muttered, "I just hope I don't piss any of you off enough that you hand me over to the nearest church official."

"If they do, I will side with you. We are alike in too many ways for me to just abandon you." Azuril said, nearly everyone stumbling from shock,

"What did you..." Miko started, but her question was overlapped by Damien.

"And you're going to be either uncaring or leaving at some point soon? How will you protect him from us if you aren't here? And how will I know you'll keep your word and not kill anyone if you aren't here to prove it? Better yet why do you care about what happens to Zykan, or any of us in any way? And why keep a promise to someone you don't care about?" he said, waiting for her answer,

"...if you're fishing for more promises or deals, Damien, then, I'm sorry to disappoint you, you'll need to search for them in someone else. I promise nothing. Especially not to people that wound me in an already damaged place every time I look at them." she looked at him out of the corner of her eye, he looked truly hurt, she sighed, "however, I never could break a promise to my friends in my own time, so why start now with them in this time? Damien, I will stay with you, and keep my promises."

"Thank you." Damien said with a grin, Azuril only closed her eyes briefly, the opened them and continued on to complete her mission, the one instance where she would break her promise to Damien and do what she stayed awake to do.

"_Crowded streets all cleared away  
One by One  
Hollow heroes separate  
As they run_

You're so cold  
Keep your hand in mine  
Wise men wonder while  
Starved men die  


_Show me how we end this alright  
Show me how defenseless you really are  
Satisfy an empty inside  
That's alright, let's give this another try_

If you find your family, don't you cry  
In this land of make-believe, dead and dry  
You're so cold, but you feel alive  
Lay your hands on me one last time

Show me how we end this alright  
Show me how defenseless you really are  
Satisfy an empty inside  
That's alright, let's give this another try

Show me how we end this alright  
Show me how defenseless you really are  
Satisfy an empty inside  
That's alright, let's give this another try  


_It's alright  
It's alright _

_It's alright _

_It's alright _

_It's alright _

_It's alright _

_It's alright _

_It's alright _

_It's alright _

_It's alright"_

_---_

Breaking Benjamin;_ So Cold; TBA_


	6. ch 5 love from nothingness

Love From Nothingness

"_ I assure you there is a Sephiroth. If you want him, I shall release him. This time, I control him. I'm sure you'll love meeting your 'Sephiroth', it'll be quite a shocker for you._" what did she mean by that? 'Shocker' how? Is it going to be another familiar face? Well, I've got to get over that quick, if that's what it is, because Sephiroth does damage, massacres, demolishes, breaks people's hearts and souls. If she's sending a 'Sephiroth', then I can't let a familiar face fool me. I'll have to see whatever it is that's behind that face, and that's what's really there, no matter what the face might be. No matter how familiar it is, no matter how much I cared about the person 'Sephiroth' will look like, no matter how much it'll hurt, I'll have to kill whoever it is so I can get to Angela. Whatever face I see, I'll see that true person, someday. I hope... 

"Azuril?" Damien's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, she looked at him, he was standing next to the tree she'd settled herself under, "are you ok?" he asked, she wondered absently why he had come over to her just to ask that, but she nodded,

"I am fine. Do I seem otherwise?" she said, he nodded.

"You're crying." he informed her. She reached up and touched her cheek, sure enough, her fingers were wet when she took her hand away from her face, she quickly used her sleeve to wipe the tears away.

Why did I start crying? when did I start crying? she thought as she stopped rubbing at her eyes, "it was nothing. I am fine." she said, though she was still concentrating on schooling herself for when a familiar face with genocidal tendencies showed up. Damien sat down next to her leaning back against the tree trunk, he gave a tired sigh, then closed his eyes, leaving Azuril wondering if he was going to fall asleep sitting there, or whether he was relaxing for a moment, the latter was proved true when he opened his eyes and looked at her again,

"if something's bothering you, you know that you can tell us. We won't say a word. That's just how the lot of us are." he said, she lowered her gaze, then turned away, "you didn't act like this to the people we look like from your time, did you?" that one got her attention, she looked at him, surprised he could corner her so easily. "I thought not." he said, smiling, somewhat sadly. Why was he sad? What did he have to be sad about?

Did I do something to upset him? she thought, suddenly, he answered her unasked question.

"I wish you could trust us a bit more than you do. You're always so closed off from all of us, Miko and Skayr wouldn't have said those things a while back if you'd just talked to us, let us know why you're so distant." he said, "and I'd like to know sometimes too."

"Damien, I..." she didn't want to risk telling him too much, that would probably only put all of them in greater danger, Angela would figure out whatever it was Azuril might say and change those rules somehow. She hated having to keep going knowing that she knew exactly how to help and protect all of them, and knowing she couldn't use that information. "I have my reasons...if I say too much, we'll all just be in greater danger. I can't let that happen." Damien closed his eyes, still smiling slightly, then he leaned back fully against the tree and sighed.

"My friends are gone, my home town is gone, your entire world is gone, Angela took everything we both held close to our hearts. I was right. You and I are far too similar." he said absently. Azuril nodded slowly,

"now, I know I can tell you this without her altering it," she started, Damien was looking at her curiously, "she will send someone, someone very powerful, who will attack both us where it will hurt the most."

"Whoever it is, won't try to go after the others, right? Do you know that at all?" Damien asked, she shook her head,

"no, they will not. That would change the game too much, and that would lessen the amount of things to make me suffer. She won't have that, I know this much. I don't know what the target will be, but it will hurt deeply, one or both of us will suffer a heavy loss. And I think she indirectly informed me earlier, in that note, that this will be another face from my nightmares." she said, then she looked at the sky, cloudless and the same blue as the ocean on a calm day, "I only pray this blow will not be too close to the center of my heart...I think I may die if it is."

"You're not going to die. If it is another familiar face, you can make it through." Damien said, she was looking at him again, somewhat surprised by what he'd said, "You've been strong enough to come this far while traveling with people you know you can never see again. Who knows how many more people we'll find that will look like someone you once knew. But, you need to remember that they aren't those people. Some of them might even act or sound like the people they resemble, like Bobby and Annakhin, but they're not who you think you see." he paused after that, looking slightly shocked with himself, Azuril still staring in mild surprise. Damien sat back a bit, looking at the ground, "I didn't mean to make it sound like I was mad, if that's how it sounded. I just-"

"you spoke your mind." she finished for him.

"Yeah, well, I'll go now. Just wanted to see if you were alright." he started to stand up but stopped when Azuril grabbed his shoulder to keep him down. When he looked at her, she was smiling,

"thank you, Damien. I'm glad to hear that someone cares about and believes in me as you do. You've helped me greatly by talking with me like this, I needed the reassurance." she said, this time there was actual emotion in her voice, she sounded truly happy. She let her hold on his shoulder drop and watched him stand up and slink away, then she watched the sky some more, ok, it's official, this is hitting a weird note. He looks like Genevieve and now my suspicions have been confirmed, ahugh! This is getting weirder that it was when I woke up! The male version of Genevieve has it bad for me and I think I'm starting to fall for him! Aaahhhggghhhhh! Weird, weird, weird, weird, weird! Weird! This game better be over and done with soon!...before I slip up too much...and lose one of them... she thought, first making several odd faces at her thoughts about her romantic life, then lowering her gaze, taking on a sad note to her at the prospect of possibly losing a friend...for the second time. Miko watched Damien walk away from Azuril, after talking with her for a while, apparently surprising her with several things, then she watched as Azuril held him down and say something to him, something that obviously got him embarrassed in some way, because of the way he walked away from her, slightly dizzy looking like he always had when he was up somewhere near Cloud 9. She growled silently, glaring from one of them to the other,

"this is just ridiculous. She's just gonna cause more problems and leave people engrossed in her, then we'll get in trouble and she'll be to blame, though he'll probably get mad at someone else, not her." she seethed, Bobby and Zykan were the ones closest to her, they exchange confused looks, then shrugged and walked away from her.

"You people are pathetic when it comes to matters of the heart." Zykan said as he and Bobby joined Damien, Skayr and Annakhin near the fire they'd made, they hadn't been able to find a town before the sun started setting, ocean blue starting to fade and darken as the sun lowered.

"What do you mean, Zykan?" Annakhin asked, Zykan rolled his eyes,

"Oh, brother...look, Missy, haven't you ever been in love?" he said, though, he couldn't exactly speak from experience, he'd never been in love, he hadn't even learned that word until Annakhin said it for the first time around him, then trying to teach him what it meant became a chore, it still was. He just didn't seem to get it, which was fine by him.

"No. Neither have you. You didn't even know the word 'love' until I said it." Annakhin said, "and you still don't know what it means."

"That true?" Bobby said in disbelief, allowing Skayr to help her sit down, her ribs were almost healed, but she was still a bit fragile, which was a problem whenever they were attacked, especially if Azuril found the battle too risky for her and her terrible ability to turn into several different strange creatures if she was beat up enough, or angered enough. Those two things were the reasons she ran from battle at times, no one but Damien and Skayr knew that, though, they all still figured she was just a basket-case, and the task of trying not to upset her too much made it seem like Damien somewhat pampered her. Everyone save Skayr, Annakhin and Damien still had shaky feelings on letting her stick around, but they opted for not arguing on the topic, Damien just reiterated that she was staying, Annakhin they didn't even bother arguing with, she was too kind and they knew she'd never change her mind on letting Azuril stay, that also being the reason Zykan claimed indifference, that way he wasn't going against Annakhin and at the same time wasn't getting himself beat up. Skayr was a hard one to pin-point, though. She, too, was dead-set on Azuril staying, no more arguments, no other opinions, the girl was staying and that's where the argument with Skayr would end...either that or she'd just walk away and not even bother dignifying the argument right from the beginning. Bobby tried all angles at getting a reason out of Skayr as to why she suddenly wanted the nostalgic girl around, but she was always met with silence. Skayr would not break her vow of silence, no matter what was set in front of her as an argument or question. Damien was just to stubborn and Eventually snapped at the group that didn't want Azuril around,

"she's staying, we had this talk before. No questions asked, got it?" he snapped angrily, Annakhin was standing nearest him, Zykan sitting on a low branch of a tree right above Annakhin, Skayr was standing next to Azuril and Damien was up in the front of it all, glaring down Bobby and Miko, who were glaring right back.

"She's too unpredictable and unreliable in battle, she acts too aloof, for all we know she still doesn't give a shit about us, and she's overly time consuming." Bobby said, putting out the problems she had with Azuril, Miko nodded,

"Damien, you spend more and more time trying to keep her away from trouble and calmed down than you do acting like your old self. What's so special about her that's got you so wound up lately!" she snapped,

"uh-oh, incoming bitch-fight." Zykan muttered, the girls on his side of Damien nodded.

"I hope this evens out." Annakhin said worriedly. Skayr growled,

"this is damned ridiculous! All of this commotion and rebellion over one girl! Not to offend." she said, Azuril shook her head,

"no offence taken." she said,

"Skayr what is up with you! You hate useless people, she isn't reliable, she doesn't have any very strong weapons and she's too time consuming! Every thing you hate in a person!" Bobby snapped, glaring at her friend, who surprised her by glaring back, not something Skayr normally did,

"she is much stronger than she looks, she is reliable and the only reason she is remotely time consuming is because of her strength. You've no idea how admirable this girl is." she said, she was serious. One-hundred percent serious. "Azuril stays. If I find her gone, I will look for her until I find her, as I know Damien, Annakhin and even Zykan would. You are cold if you can't fathom other's pains and needs." Miko and Damien had stopped arguing a while ago, too shocked at what they were hearing from Skayr to continue. "She is powerful, and fragile at the same time, that is why she will either attempt to get rid of a threat before it can break through her, and it is also the reason she runs from something she thinks will break her too easily, the last thing she wants is to be broken in battle. This also applies to her emotions as well. She breaks if at any extreme, she despises that fact. Bobby, I thought I knew you better than this. You seemed like a person willing to see both sides and think rationally about how others may react to a certain situation. My opinion was wrong. You are just as pigheaded as all of us were when we first found her. And you are still just as ignorant." Damien, Miko Bobby and Annakhin were staring in utter shock, Skayr never spoke like that about someone else, she never spoke like that to Bobby either. The group was shocked further when Zykan spoke up, still sitting in the tree,

"ya know, Skayr's right, Bobby. You are being pigheaded and ignorant. Azuril saved your life, so I've heard that is, and now you don't want her around. And, technically, she saved you twice, once when you guys found her in that forest, and again at that hospital from hell. no matter what she says on the topic, you defiantly own her your life. And, she's promised to protect me and make sure I don't get caught or hurt by psychos out for my head, so, I can't let you boot her out. Even if I have to go against my rules and possibly get myself killed because of it." he jumped down out of the tree, landing next to Damien, then he point at Miko with his scythe, "that all applies to you too, Miko." he said, then he simply walked back to the tree he'd been in and jumped back up it, taking his seat on the branch he'd been on before, then he jammed his scythe's blade into the side of the tree and relaxed back on his branch, falling asleep. Everyone, of course, save Azuril, just stared in shock,

"Zykan actually stood up for someone aside from Annakhin. And he's risking his life on it too." Bobby said,

"there, see. If he's humane in this situation, shouldn't you two be able to pull it off?" Damien said, hands on hips, stilling glaring.

"Damien," Azuril called from behind him, all eyes were on her now, except for Zykan's, he was sleeping, "if I am unwanted, I will leave. There is no point in keeping me here if I am useless. And I do not want you to pulled away from your friends at all." Damien shook his head,

"you're back to calling them just my friends. Earlier you'd realized that they were yours too. You wouldn't have rescued us at that hospital, or back in the woods, if you didn't care. Plus, majority rules and it's two of them against four of us, five you count yourself." she shook her head,

"majority matters nothing to me. Nor does how many times I've saved your lives. If even one of you finds me useless, or is angry with Damien for keeping me here, then I will go." she said, Miko motioned off to the right,

"then start walking. I haven't seen anything from you to make me think that you even want to be here. So go!" she said, now even Bobby, who was on her side, was shocked, this wasn't like Miko at all, normally she'd just snap at Damien for a bit, then terrorize Zykan, now she was actually mad.

"Miko!" Annakhin said, looking somewhat terror stricken, Skayr looked just as shocked as everyone else, a new extreme for her. Damien looked like he was about to backhand her, but Azuril stepped in again.

"Damien! do not make a mistake that you will sorely regret later. none of this bickering and threatening is necessary on my account. I will leave, I have my curse to protect myself with." she said, walking over to where Damien and Miko stood, "don't do something you'll regret later." then she started walking way from the group Damien grabbed her wrist,

"don't. I told you before that you aren't going anywhere, I want you here, if no one else does then they can walk away from this whole thing right now." he said firmly, "you may hate yourself for something I'm pretty sure you didn't do, and everyone else may hate you for a variety of reasons, but I don't." he said, making her turn around and look at him.

"What?" she said quietly, now Damien just looked like he'd been dragged into the limelight.

"Well," he let go of her wrist and shifted around a bit, looking at the ground "I mean that I want you here. That I like having you around. Ok?" Bobby then looked at Skayr, grinning and holding out her hand,

"pay up." was all she said, Skayr growled,

"this proves nothing! You get nothing." she said, Annakhin tilted her head to the side a bit, confused, Miko was fuming angry,

"you bet on that!" she shrieked, then two girls being addressed looked at each other for a second, then at Miko,

"yes." they both said in unison, Miko half creamed in frustration and started ripping at her hair,

"dammit! This turning out horribly! The only one here who hasn't weirded me out yet today is Zykan...oh, yeah, and Annakhin." she said, Bobby pointed out something in that short rant.

"Um, I think the only reason you haven't tried to use Zykan's head for a soccer ball yet today is because he's been sleeping almost all day." she said, Skayr and Annakhin nodded their agreement to that.

"T'is true." Skayr said, Annakhin only nodded. Suddenly, Zykan sneezed and fell off of his branch.

"Ow! Fuck! Who the hell was talking about me!" he snapped, everyone pointed at Bobby and Miko, "shut the hell up, you two! I'm tired and crabby and I have a weapon, do not mess with me!" he glared at the two girls for a second, then hopped back up onto his branch and fell asleep again.

"Can we somehow get him a muzzle?" Bobby said, Annakhin shrugged,

"I don't think they make the right kind for him. I can always just ask him to stay quiet." she suggested, then there was another sneeze, followed shortly thereafter by a 'thud' and a cursing fit. "Oh, oops!" Annakhin said, turning to face Zykan, "I'm sorry, we should have stopped."

"No, you're cool on that one. Just please, for my head's sake, since I seem to continually land on it, switch the subject of conversation." he said, then he was up in his tree again. The argument seemed to have passed and now it was everyone against Miko in the 'let's keep Azuril' argument. Night time set in quicker than anticipated and the group was left in the dark, Zykan still in his tree, Annakhin sitting under the tree, Skayr had move from next to Azuril to a low branch in a tree closest to Bobby, Miko was farthest from the group, brooding and glaring at Azuril, who was sitting nearest Damien, who looked like he'd fallen asleep with his eyes open.

"He ok?" Bobby asked, pointing to Damien, Miko gave a small growl,

"he does that sometimes, falls asleep with his eyes open, it makes it look like he's still paying attention to whatever it is you're saying at the time." she said, Bobby blinked a bit.

"Oh. Ok. And no need to get overly possessive of him. None of us are chasing him. He's doing it all by himself." Miko twitched and glared,

"'possessive'? Me? Of him? Yeah, right, and Skayr can fly!" she said, Bobby gave her a flat look,

"Skayr, would you please?" she said, there was a derisive snort from Skayr, then she was jumping into the air and straight up, when she got fairly high up, away from the fire mainly, a pair of blood colored wings slowly appeared on her. Miko was staring stupidly as Skayr did some aerial acrobatics, Azuril smacked Damien's arm and pointed up when she'd finally gotten his attention. He looked up and his eyes widened,

"Jesus fucking Christ!" he cried, falling over side ways, still staring. Bobby picked up a small rock near boomerang and threw it at Zykan, who had another cursing fit when he hit the ground.

"What the hell was that for!" he snapped, Bobby lazily pointed up, then she started poking at the fire with a stick as though nothing special was going on around her. Zykan looked up and hid behind the tree he had been knocked out of, "how the hell'd she do that!"

"Who knows. All I do is know she can do it." Bobby said offhandedly, still poking the fire. Azuril had stopped watching the show almost immediately after she'd watched Skayr grow wings and fly around a bit, she was now watching Bobby poke at the fire mourning her cousin, who was know to do the same thing.

"Zykan was right. You are a pyro." she said, Bobby looked at her oddly for a second, then paused her poking when she noticed the sadness that had made its way into her eyes.

"Your cousin did this same kind of stuff, didn't she?" she asked quietly, not wanting to put the girl in the limelight at all. Azuril nodded,

"fire, music, hobbies, tendencies, personality, you are her twin in all of those ways. And she never could get rid of me, even when we were younger and she would hurt me in hopes I'd leave her be. But I've followed her ever since then, even in my nightmares. She led, I followed. She left, I sat still until she returned. She cried, I comforted. She was, now that I think about it, more like my master, I did everything I could to make her happy and to stay by her side. But, it was an imprisonment that I loved with all of my heart. If I could go back and do it all again, follow her, comfort her, learn from her, laugh with her, love and believe in her, I would without a second thought. You are far too similar to her, my mind still hasn't realized fully that she is gone, and that you are not her. It hurts when I watch you do anything, but it hurts even more when I can't see you." she said, then she nodded towards the fire, "if it was agitating, ignore my words, please go on with what you were doing, do not let me hinder you." she said, then she pulled out her gun and started taking it apart, most likely to clean it or reload it, it was a type of gun Bobby's only seen in books on the history of weapons. That reminded her of something,

"back in that crypt where we found you," Azuril looked up at her, putting down the part she was cleaning, "when Damien gave me your gun so you would blow all of our brains out, your cousin, did she..."

"Yes. She liked guns, she like taking them apart to see what was there as well. She owned a gun herself, she named it as well." Azuril said, Bobby raised an eyebrow,

"she named it?" she said, sounding curious, Azuril nodded,

"she called it 'Squishy'." Bobby dropped the stick she'd been poking the fire with and used both hands to cover her mouth and stifle her laughter, the thought of a gun being named like a pet was slightly funny, the name in itself was rather humorous as well, and seeing and hearing Azuril say it all in her emotionless and uncaring tone and her usual still demeanor was hilarious. Azuril raised an eyebrow, ok, I thought it was funny when I first heard it, too, but, it wasn't that funny, was it? I can't remember very well... once Bobby had calmed down, she as ked another question,

"she was the last one to see that thing before you were locked away, wasn't she? That's why you wanted it back so quick, it looked like a repeat performance. Didn't it." she said, Azuril nodded, then she went back to cleaning her gun. "You can go into auto-pilot anytime you want, I won't mind. Now that I know why, I won't mind." she said, she could hear a small noise of recognition from Azuril, she grinned, then went back to poking the fire. Skayr landed back on the branch she'd been perched on before she was needed to prove Miko wrong and her wings vanished, then she followed Zykan's example and fell asleep.

"Well, that was weird." Damien said, blinking a bit, Miko and Zykan nodded, Annakhin was looking up at Skayr,

"that was amazing! I didn't know she was capable of doing something like that!" she said excitedly, Zykan jumped back up into his tree, settled down on his branch and passed out again "let's not wake them both, Zykan will get mad and Skayr deserves a nap." Annakhin said, everyone else nodded. Damien looked at Azuril, who was still cleaning her gun, but now seemed to be sitting closer to Bobby, who was still poking the fire.

"What were you two talking about a second ago? I heard Bobby break down laughing, but what about, I don't know." he said, Bobby waved a dismissive hand,

"nothing life threatening, don't worry." she said, Damien huffed and gave up on it, Bobby obviously wasn't sharing and Azuril was defiantly not sharing,

"ok. Whatever." he said, settling down a bit more, "why don't we eat something quick, then sleep. Then we can get an earlier start tomorrow." everyone was up for that, the word 'food' had peaked Bobby's interest. Suddenly, Zykan was bolting away from camp,

"I'll go find more fire wood!" he called back, sounding somewhat hasty. Everyone watched him diaper into the shadows, then looked off to the left of the campsite at the huge pile of fire wood set there.

"Everyday he gives some weird excuse and just bolts, right around dinner time. What's up with that?" Miko said, Annakhin shrugged,

"he won't tell me and I won't make him if he doesn't want to." she said, no one really had any guesses, the topic was dropped. But it returned when Zykan came back empty handed.

"Ok, that's it. Share!" Bobby said, Zykan gave her a confused look,

"share what? I don't have anything to share." he said, she pointed an accusing finger at him,

"that's my point. You said you were going to get fire wood. Where is it?" Zykan seemed to look around nervously for a second, then recovered,

"I remembered we already had a shit-load of it and came back assuming we had enough. We do, right?" he said,

"nice try." Bobby said, he jumped back into his tree,

"thank you, I do my best. Now, don't wake me. I'm damned tired." then he fell asleep.

"Annakhin, make him talk!" Bobby said, Annakhin shook her head,

"not if he doesn't want to. I'm not going to force him to tell us something he'd rather keep secret." she said, Bobby gave up.

"On to the food." she said, watching as Damien and Miko set up for cooking. She paused and looked at Azuril, "another rerun, isn't it?" the other girl nodded,

"she loved food. She also had a nasty habit of telling people they needed to eat more." Bobby looked around a bit, feigning ignorance, "you do that too, don't you?" she nodded,

"sorry." she said, Azuril shook her head,

"you didn't know." she said softly, "none of you do."

"_I assure you there is a Sephiroth. If you want him, I shall release him. This time, I control him. I'm sure you'll love meeting your 'Sephiroth', it'll be quite a shocker for you_" I still can't figure it out. And she's defiantly watching us somehow. I say one thing about what's going to happen, she makes another thing happen instead. I'm still waiting on 'Sephiroth', my curiosity's peaked, but so has my dread. What if I can't bring myself to hurt whoever it is? It could be anyone. Becky or Laura? Manda? Maybe even Adam. I would be able to hurt any of them. I can't do it. Damien was wrong. I was wrong. I'll just prove myself useless again when I run from a familiar face. Knowing her, at least her similarities to Hojo, she'll contort the plot line enough to add in more major villains, or she'll have the Shinra and the Turks hanging around somewhere. They'll all have faces I know, they'll all kill me when I can't hurt them. I shouldn't have woken up, I should have just gone back to sleep in that grave she made me. I'll on give Miko more reasons to hate me, give Lizz more reasons to hate me. And I'll only screw all of them up even more. Damien got banged up real bad in our last fight, blocking me from trouble, I think he, Skayr and Bobby have been so overly protective of me because of my transformations. I haven't turned into the Galian Beast, or any others, since that first time in the woods...but I might end out being the reason those three die if they keep this up. I can't let them. I don't want then hurt, I don't want them to die. They're really all I have now...I need to protect that, not get it killed. Azuril thought, they'd found a town, about a day or so after Azuril and Bobby's fireside talk, but hadn't made it there smoothly, several attacks by creatures sent by Angela had most of the group bruised, bloodied and battered, Bobby still said she owed Azuril and put her life on the line, even before she was fully healed, Skayr and Damien knew what would happen if Azuril was beat on enough and didn't want to make her hate herself even more. Miko still said Azuril should shove off, and each time, Damien said it wasn't a suggestion on his part, it was a rule that she was staying. Zykan still didn't care whether Azuril was there or not and Annakhin still was dead set on keeping her safe and in the group. Skayr was a case no one wanted to try to get near, if she said she wanted something a certain way, it was left that way. And Bobby had a new shadow, she was up for Azuril staying. Azuril claimed she didn't care, but would always follow Bobby everywhere she went. Miko was slowly giving up. At that moment, Azuril was sitting in one of the rooms they'd rented at the local inn, settled in a chair near the window, Bobby and Skayr were asleep, bandaged up from their latest fight, and playing 'human shield' for Azuril. Azuril's room was next to Skayr and Bobby's room, Miko and Annakhin's room was on the other side of Azuril's room and Zykan and Damien were next to them, she'd come into the room where her two friends were, just to see them, whether they were awake or not. She missed them, Jessi and Lisa that is, Athos, Aramis, where ever you are now, I'm going to join you when this is all over and done with. If I can die that is. I don't know if I can... I miss you. I always will, hope you're happy. As happy as I am sad. I'll still be Porthos for you, my friends. I promise. she found herself crying again and quickly wiped the tears away, all for one and one for all. she stood up after that small thought, "what am I doing in here? I can't visit the living in order to see the dead. I should go try to sleep, at least I can see their faces in my nightmares, I'll think of it like that." she muttered to herself as she walked out of the room. When she closed the door to Skayr and Bobby's room, she walked right past her own room, quietly opening the door to Miko and Annakhin's room, doing the same thing there as she had earlier, watching the pair of girls for a second, chiding herself on being stupid again, then leaving, closing the door lightly behind her. She was tempted to go to Damien and Zykan's room, but thought better of it, she did want to see Genevieve though. She'd seen Jessi, Lisa, Lizz and Anna, and she wanted to see Noah and Genevieve, but decided it was, in a way, morally incorrect to do so and turned to go back to her own room, bumping in Zykan, who seemed to be sneaking back towards his room,

"uhh...hi?" he said, she gave him an odd look,

"where were you?" she asked, he walked around her and back towards his room,

"I don't need to tell you." he said, then he was gone behind the door to his room. Azuril shook her head slowly,

"He's more like me than he is Noah. But still, he is Noah's equal, and that thought saddens me as much as the others do." she said to herself, thinking out loud, then she opened the door to her room, "I wish I could tell them more...but I need to protect them, not further endanger them...this is far more painful than it should be." she said quietly, walking into her room and closing the door behind her.

"Damien, you don't need to protect me so. I am capable of fighting my own battles." Azuril said, they'd just managed to get away from another odd creature, Annakhin allowed Zykan to blow it up, and again Damien, Skayr and Bobby had pushed Azuril to the back. "I am not a weak little child. I can protect myself."

"Yeah, but what about sometime when you can't then what? If you don't want bad things to happen, don't instigate them." Damien said, "you hated yourself before for what could happen in battle, and I don't want to see you hate yourself more. It just makes me mad with myself."

"Why?" Azuril looked confused now,

"because then I feel like I didn't do enough to help you. And I hate that feeling." he said with a grin, now she wasn't confused anymore, she looked around the group a bit, found Bobby and hurriedly thanked Damien and made a B-line towards Bobby.

"Hey. You two making cutesy face at each other again?" Bobby said, she was working on fixing up her boomerang a bit, she hadn't even bothered to look up when she heard someone stop walking once they were at her side, her smirk widened when she heard a familiar clicking noise, "relax, Ms. Anti-Casanova, I was kidding." she could hear her friend putting the gun back in its holster. "So, what is going on between you two anyway? There's some kind of friction. That and Miko's pissed to the max, there has to be something there. Right?"

click

"geez, you're touchy." there was the 'un-click' again, this time the gun was left out, "look, if it's not a relationship like what Miko's pissed about, and if you don't want her to hate you, then you should tell her you two are just friends."

click

"or not, Jesus, you are sensitive on matters of the heart, aren't you?"

no un-clicky "

"ok, I'll let it alone about you and Damien."

un-clicky

"so, why are Damien and Skayr being way overly protective? I know I am because I still feel like I owe you for saving me, twice."

"They have their reasons." Azuril said, "we aren't going any further into that topic." Bobby shrugged,

"whatever. Ok. You're really not a conversationalist, are you?" she said,

"words have no power to impress the mind compared to the exquisite horror of their reality" Azuril said Lisa told me that one "conversation is made completely of words. No, I do not enjoy conversing." Bobby was staring bug eyed,

"whoa..." she said, "that was really poetic."

"And rather disturbing." Zykan said, sitting on a branch in the tree Bobby and Azuril were next to, "you're kinda scary, ya know that?"

"Again, 'the exquisite horror of their reality'." Azuril repeated. Zykan blinked a bit,

"hey, you talk with Damien a lot, that's conversing, it's made up of words. How horrified is he?" Azuril didn't answer.

does it really look like what everyone else seems to see? Yes, I talk to, and stay closer to, Damien, but he's the one that spent the most time trying to get through to me, and now he's protecting me because of the exact reason I thought would scare him away. Ir's not love. It's friendship. Now that I'm treating Bobby more like I had with Jessi, will they start to think I'm in love with her too? I hope not. 

"Azuril!" Miko called from the other side of their temporary rest-spot, "come here I wanna talk with you on something!"

"Uh-oh." Bobby said rolling her eyes.

"Here we go." Zykan said, "just don't shoot her and everything will be over nice and fast."

"Oh, and don't make too many sudden movements, they could set her off." Bobby joked, Zykan snickered at that, Azuril just walked away, though they knew she found the joke funny. Damien and Annakhin were watching Azuril walk over to Miko,

"oh dear, this won't be good at all." Annakhin said, biting her bottom lip in some nervousness, Damien shook his head,

"no, it won't. I'm going over there." Annakhin stopped him,

"give it a second, see what she does. Then split it up if needed." she said, he sighed, then relaxed,

"fine. Miko's rational. She should do fine without losing her temper, Azuril will probably just walk away if the argument takes any odd twists." he said, watching the two girls.

"I'm not saying that I hate you, I just don't like you being here. You just keep getting in the way and now you're getting all of us hurt or beat up twice as badly as we normally would have been. Damien actually paid attention to his surroundings and what he was doing before you popped up, now he's getting the shit beat out of him hourly by some weird creature or another. You could end up killing all of us in the end!" Miko ranted, Azuril waited for her to finish, then responded,

"I have told Damien several times not to worry so much about me in battle, he is doing this of his own accord. I do not want any protection that I can give myself. And, whose way am I in? Why are you so concerned with what Damien focuses on? Could it be that the blatantly obvious is true?" Miko was red in the face, whether from anger or embarrassment, Azuril didn't know.

"uh-oh." Zykan said, watching the two girls, Bobby nodded,

"we should get Azuril out of there." Skayr looked up at the near explosive look on Miko's face from where she was lying on the grass near Bobby,

"what is that girl doing still standing there? Does she have a death wish?" she said, the trio looked to their right when they heard Annakhin giving up on trying to keep Damien back,

"uh-oh again." Zykan said, watching wide eyed for the scene he knew was about to happen, Bobby and Skayr nodded their agreement.

"why are you angry with me? I've no true romantic interest in him, you have no competition. If my theory is correct that is." Azuril said blandly. Miko snapped.

"Miko, don't-!" Damien started, but he was cut off by a loud slapping noise, he stopped moving, so did everyone else, they watched Damien, Miko and Azuril, who was sitting on the ground, her human hand covering the mark that was slowly darkening on her cheek, her gaze was pointed toward the ground, eyes wide, either shocked or again remembering something from one thousand years ago. "Miko...!" Damien was defiantly in shock, Miko never spazzed like that, then she started yelling,

"stay out of it, Damien!" she looked at Azuril who was sitting on her feet now, still covering the bruise on her cheek, she was leaning forward a bit, as though she was unable to sit up all the way, her left arm propping her up, "You don't have any idea what you're talking about! I know what everyone thinks of me when it comes to him, and I also know what they're all saying about you and him! But, you've no right to act so non-challaunt about something you don't seem to know anything about! Do you know how much I've gone through while I've known him! I've kept going through things that would kill someone without determination, he was there too, suffering along with me! I'm not saying it's an infatuation, so don't make anymore assumptions! You called me foolish, using different, indirect words, and I'm bluntly calling you an emotionless, uncaring burden. There's no point in you staying here if you're so upset when you even look at us!" Azuril's eyes widened more, she'd gotten into several tough spots with Lizz, but nothing like this, and seeing someone with Lizz's face hit her sent her mind reeling. "And there's no point in you staying here if all you're going to do is cry about the fact that you can't ever see the people we look like anymore!" Azuril's eyes narrowed to angry slits, she was looking up at Miko out of the corner of her eye, the girl was poking at a nerve best left untouched. "watching you mope and listening to you whine about the overly dramatic fact that you 'couldn't save' your friends or family is just annoying!" another jab at the nerve.

"Miko, stop it!" Damien said, but Miko wasn't up for that.

"Why? What are you so worried about! What's she done for us, besides the hospital, which we probably could have gotten ourselves out of anyway! And why do you care so much? Is she suddenly the most important thing there is to you! What about the rest of us! What about getting rid of Angela! Are you gonna put that on hold too!"

"Miko, cut it out! This isn't helping anyone! Especially not her!" Damien pointed to Azuril, who'd gone rigid, "she's lost ten times as much as us! And I'd like to know why you hate her so much. What did she do to you!"

"She takes up all of everyone's time and attention! Look at her, Damien! We found her in a box in a basement, she even said herself that she didn't want to go with us. She keeps running off, we have to go find her. She doesn't care about us, we keep her anyway. She prays for amnesia, we have to sit and listen to her bitch and moan. She can't seem to function properly around us, not to mention she hates herself and whatever it is she thinks she is, and we have to try to keep her head above water. She can't let go of something that happened and something she'll never see again, one-thousand years ago, we have to survive her emotional and psychological tantrums. Damien, tell me what actually sounds remotely appealing or worth your life that you want her here! She can't see us for who we are, she probably only sees who we look like to her! It's not worth our time to drag her around-!"

"Shut up." came a new voice, Azuril's. Miko and Damien were staring at her now, she was still on the ground, in the same spot they'd left her, but now, something was different about her, Damien and Skayr caught it right away.

"Get as far back as you can!" Skayr cried, shoving Bobby away from the arguing trio, Zykan, apparently sensing something not very nice radiating from Azuril, dove off of his branch, snagged Annakhin, and bolted, Damien backed away from Azuril a bit, as did Miko,

"W-what's happening to her!" Miko cried,

"exactly what I've been trying to prevent from happening." Damien said, still backing up, "Azuril, calm down!"

"No. Miko, you've forced me into doing something I wish I couldn't. You haven't a clue the pain I feel. You have your guesses and assumptions, but you have no idea what I feel. And what I went through myself. I will also never hear you talk about my friends and family in any way again. Thank Damien after this. He'll save you—Ahh!" finally, there was a blinding flash of light and, once the light was gone, the same creature that Damien and Skayr had encountered in the woods stood there, teeth bared, eyes set on Miko.

"Azuril, don't! Stop!" Damien cried,

"Damien, get away from it! I don't think it wants to play nice!" Bobby yelled, Damien backed away a bit more, but wouldn't leave, not without Miko. Even if part of him said that this was the exact kind of wake-up call she needed, the rest of him was running around from behind the creature to stand in front of it,

"Azuril! Stop it! This is enough! I'm sorry for what she said! She didn't know any of the things you told me! Snap out of it!" he said, he could see Bobby winding up to throw her boomerang, "Bobby, don't! You might kill her!" he yelled,

"'Her'? How does he know what it is?" Bobby said,

"Well, I can assure you he didn't turn it over and look." Skayr said,

"you're disturbing." Zykan said, there was a loud howl from over by Damien and Miko, the noise made Skayr sigh with relief,

"the stand off is over." she said, walking back to curl up under the tree Bobby had been sitting under earlier. Several seconds later, the howl turned into a human scream, then silence. Short lived silence,

"Azuril!" Damien cried, grabbing her as she collapsed from exhaustion, "are you ok?" she looked up at him,

"I'm-I'm sorry they had to see it. I—"then she passed out. Damien huffed, carrying her back over to where Bobby, Skayr, Annakhin and Zykan were, Miko was stuck on spot, frozen from fear, finally, she took several deep breaths and walked cautiously back to the others.

"What the hell was that thing?" Zykan asked, not frightened, curious...it would be hypocritical in a way to be scared of another monster, after all. Damien took several deep breaths, he'd been convinced she was going to eat him.

"This is why I've been so oddly over-protective of her. If she gets too upset, angry, sad, anything that overcomes her senses completely, she loses control, she told me that it's almost impossible to rein her in if she turns into a monster. She also changes when she's beat on too much. That's why Skayr and I wouldn't let her do too much fighting, we saw her like you just did, but she was ripping something possibly three her size and more than thirty feet long to shreds. It was a nice and fast fight, she'd spread her enemy's guts all over the place in under a minute. Skayr and I were just lucky she somehow exhausted herself and had to turn back into a human." he said, still looking at Azuril, all of his thoughts focused on why she didn't attack him and Miko, why she got exhausted so fast, and just in case an incident happened like this again, what routine would they have to use in order to stay alive and not hurt her.

"Yes, we would have died as well had she not first killed our enemy then run out of energy." Skayr said.

"So that's what you promised you wouldn't tell us?" Annakhin said, Skayr and Damien nodded.

"I can imagine why she wouldn't want anyone to know. I've been there, a really dangerous secret that you really need to keep hidden." Zykan said, Bobby looked at Miko,

"the bruise is still there from where you hit her."she said, "if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to cleaning my weapons." then she walked back over to the tree Skayr was lying under, sat down by her earlier abandoned cleaning tools, and started working again. Skayr closed her eyes and fell asleep. Zykan jumped back up onto his branch and dozed off as well. Annakhin was taking Azuril's cape off and gently unraveling the bandana she wore,

"we'll make this at least a little comfortable for her until she wakes up." she said, Bobby looked over at them,

"and then the massacre will return." she said, "do you guys know how she'll react to all of us knowing she can do that? She'll probably shoot herself in the head." Damien took the gun, holster and all, away from her, "or claw herself to death. I'd love to see you take that from her."

"Point on that one." Damien said, everyone had started acting normally, except for Miko,

"You guys don't see anything wrong here? Not a thing at all?" she said in disbelief. No one dignified her. "Is this because of what I said to her? Is that why I'm being ignored? Well, fine I won't try tp make you let her go anymore. And I'm sorry I badmouthed her."

"It can't be tongue and cheek, Miko. If you really mean it, wait for her to wake up and tell her yourself." Damien said, he tilted his head to the side a bit, "why would she wear the cape? She would attract a lot less attention if she didn't. And the bandana, I don't know. She obviously can't tie it herself, but I can imagine why, though." he said, stealing a quick glance at her left arm. "She was right earlier, this isn't right. Not at all. Too many people suffer in Angela's wake. Too many people are left to be killed by their own pain. I think that's somewhat how Azuril might put it. I just wish she'd been born in our time. Then I might have been able to do something sooner."

"Don't guilt trip yourself over it. Remember, Skayr was altered too, though not quite like that..." Bobby said, "feeling sorry for yourself and going on a guilt trip won't do anything for that girl. Guilt won't make her human again, Damien. So, be stronger than that and keep going for her. Then you'll have done something huge for her." she said, going back to her boomerang.

When Azuril woke up there was an odd exchange of apologies, Azuril sorry for overreacting, Miko sorry for hurting her, both apologizing to Damien for somehow putting him in the middle of all of it. Once the apologies were sorted out the entire thing was to be dropped and never spoken of again.

"It's really the best for all of us that way, I think." Annakhin said, Azuril was still retying her bandana, the cape had been easier to get on, but this was hard, then she remembered it was supposed to look sloppy and left it alone half hazard..

"want some help with that?" Miko asked, though she was still rather frightened of the other girl, but she figured giving Azuril a chance was the least she could do after what had happened earlier. Azuril shook her head, pushing her bandana up above her eyes, it had slipped down when she shook her head, "you sure?" Miko couldn't help but smirk as she watched the same scene play out. Finally, Azuril got mad at the bandana and yanked at several different places, then growled angrily when it didn't work, then she nodded. Miko took the bandana out of her hair and paused for a second, "this thing's really long. You defiantly don't use it like a normal bandana. I assume, then, that means you were trying to make it look a little unwound, like it was when we first found you?" Azuril nodded, she have spoken since she'd apologized earlier, this somewhat concerned some of the group members, but they knew talking to her would do nothing but bring more silence. Miko paused again, running her fingers through Azuril's hair once, "you really take care of your hair, don't you? It's soft, even though it's un-tameable. I assume that's at least where the idea of the bandana came in." she said, a shrug was her only answer. She sighed, Damien had warned her, and the others, that if she feels she's done something horrifyingly wrong she won't talk, even to him. "Alright. Let's see how good I am at making a mess of something." she said, starting on the bandana.

"Damien," Bobby whispered, pointing behind them, "they're not on opposite sides of the group anymore."

"I'm glad we won over Miko. I hated having to argue with her about this." Damien said, then Miko walked ahead of Azuril a bit and started talking with Annakhin, "but, there's that nasty habit of Azuril's."

"What, you mean hiding in corners or the back of the group?" Bobby said, Damien nodded,

"we need to break her of that habit." he said, Bobby made a 'hold a sec' gesture with her hand, then looked behind her more,

"Azuril!" she called, said girl perked up automatically, "come on up here, we don't want to leave you behind." several seconds later, Azuril was tailing Bobby. Damien stared dumbly, then he looked at Bobby,

"how did you do that?" he asked, stunned that Azuril had done what was asked of her so quickly,

"'Family' secret." Bobby said,

"so, she listens to you now?" Damien said, Bobby nodded,

"not to make it sound like she's a pet, she certainly isn't. You know me and the whole 'human pets' thing. But, she sealed her own fate earlier by telling me a few little details that I can use every now and then."

"She'll participate if you tell or ask her to?" Bobby nodded, "she'll follow you everywhere, thus meaning we don't need to go running on a fox hunt all the time?" Bobby nodded, "can you get her to talk?" Bobby shrugged, "how about participate in all of the fights we might get into on our way around?" Bobby paused for a second, seemingly thinking on that one, then she nodded, "I love you." Bobby stared at him bug-eyed, "it was a joke." Bobby relaxed.

"Do you think this is a good idea, though, Damien?" she said, watching the ground.

"What?"

"Using the fact that she's on auto-pilot and still unconsciously thinks she following someone else to our advantage. Is it right to use her memories like that?" Damien was stuck on that one, he wanted Azuril to stay, but he didn't want it to be more like imprisonment. This was her choice, but Bobby had a point, her mind still hadn't forgotten that the people she sees around her aren't who they look like. Especially Bobby and Skayr. Those two impacted her the most, Bobby above all else. A relative that had been like a sister to her was leading her around, just like she used to when she was alive, Bobby was that person. "Part of her still hasn't forgotten them, it still thinks I'm her cousin and that everyone else are her friends from her time. Damien, we're using that part of her to make her stay with us. We can't do that. It isn't right."

"I know. But I need a little more time to think of a fair way for both her and us." Damien said, "I know and hate the fact that I have to use a familiar face that I know she'll follow everywhere to keep her here, but I need time to think of something else."

"Time is something we constantly worry about not having enough of. We might be killed when we walk past that tree up there, or we might live to see this through till the end. Even if we watch some of our friends die along the way. If it's time you need, Damien, then think fast." Bobby said,

"you sounded kinda like Azuril." Damien said,

"yeah, well, you sounded like her earlier, too." Bobby pointed out, Damien shrugged, then looked to the front again,

"she's poetic, and kinda philosophical at times." he said, Bobby grinned,

"yeah, but she also seems to like the whole enigmatic thing too." she said, Damien nodded,

"but, that's just how she is. After who knows how much time spent being a human lab rat, one thousand years of sleeping in suspended animation, then all of our little mishaps and near death misses, she has a right to act closed off, and to be closed off if she wants. We owe her that much."

"Yeah. Yeah, we do." Bobby said in agreement.

"I'm telling you, don't fall asleep right away, you'll see what I mean, got it?" Bobby whispered to Zykan and Miko, Skayr had given Damien and Annakhin the same message.

"What is this all about? What are you-" Damien was cut off when Skayr clamped a hand over his mouth,

"here she comes, not a sound out of the ordinary, understood?" Skayr said, Damien nodded, then Skayr took her hand away from his face and watched in some sadness as Damien started breathing deeply,

"damn! You almost suffocated me! Oh, man!" he snapped. Skayr hid her face behind her hands and groaned,

"pathetic." she said, then she lowered her hands, turning to walk away, "and we call you our leader..." Damien glared after her,

"I heard that!"

"Should I care? I don't."

"What was that about?" Azuril asked as she sat down on a large tree stump near the edge of the group, but not too far away.

"Skayr tried to kill me!"

"Damien's a wuss!" Skayr called of from the branch she was lounging on, Bobby, who had been drinking some water when those two answers were given, sprayed water at Zykan, bursting out laughing at the two comments made, then she stopped and looked at Zykan, who had his hair unbound so Annakhin could brush through it, and now he looked like a drown rat, that set her off laughing again and she fell over clutching her sides,

"oh, God! Zykan, you–you should see yourself! You—drown rat! Oh, fuck! My ribs! I can't breath!" she said through her hysterical laughing,

"Good, dammit!" Zykan snapped, allowing Annakhin to quickly brush through his hair, then she started drying it, "I feel like a goddam dog." he muttered, glaring around the campsite, daring any of them to make a joke. Skayr was no the ground trying to help Bobby breath properly while she calmed down. Miko was biting her bottom lip, obviously trying as hard as possible not to laugh at him, Damien was avoiding looking in that direction, for fear he'd burst out laughing and get himself killed. Azuril just started cleaning her gun. When Annakhin backed away from Zykan to put the towel down and grab the brush again, Zykan shook off like a dog, that did it, Miko hit the ground laughing, Bobby was, once again, laughing and Skayr was snickering and smirking, "Shut up!" he snapped, then he felt his hair frizz up a bit, "oh, hell! Who, out of all the deities ever created, hates me?" he whined, now Skayr was laughing, sitting on the ground, clutching her sides, Bobby was at that same point of hysterics she'd been in earlier, Miko was laughing about as much as Bobby, Damien was still turned away from the scene, he didn't want a scythe up his ass when he wasn't paying attention, Azuril was watching the little scene play itself out, raising an eyebrow in some amusement.

"You-you look----like a poodle!" Miko managed to say, that ticked him off,

"poodle! Oh, that is it, I have had enough of you three laughing, I'll-"

"Zykan, down." Annakhin said, he hit the dirt face first. Everyone stopped laughing and stared, then the girls laughed even more,

"hey, how'd you do that?" Damien asked Annakhin,

"I did some manipulating on the seal that he's bound by, but it needed a medium to work."

"Why?" Azuril asked, this reminds me of Inu Yasha. Cool. 

"well, the seal's power in general is what keeps him in spell-hold, but, to add extra, specific tricks, you need something to connect him to the person giving the command. In this case, I'm using his charm around his neck. I drew the symbol on an ofuda and wrapped it around part of the bracelet, then the bracelet absorbed the symbol and I could use it as a connection to him." Annakhin explained,

"cool. Confusing. But cool." Damien said,

"maybe for you." Zykan growled, still laid out on the ground, propped up on his elbows, "you try eating dirt whenever she says 'down'."

too much like Inu Yasha! Is she doing this on purpose too? Azuril thought, nervous on that fact, "why 'down'?" she asked,

"because having a connection for a certain trick made is useless without a command to make the trick happen. I had to loosen the bracelet on my wrist so I could get the ofuda wrapped around it. He started running off the instant he felt the seal weaken slightly and I had to say something quick, and since he was up in a tree when I needed to say something to complete the process, I didn't really think on it and yelled at him to get 'down' from the tree he was in. When he went crashing into the ground a second after I said that, I knew I'd accidently completed it, I'm sorry, Zykan." she said, looking at Zykan, who was glaring at her with a face full of dirt, "I didn't mean to."

"Just put me back in the bracelet, I'll be safer there." he said,

"no. you're staying right here, or I'll say it again." Annakhin said sternly, Zykan's eyes widened,

"you wouldn't."

"Try me."

"Go, Annakhin!" Bobby said, grinning when Zykan stuck his tongue out at her.

"How long ago did you put this seal on him?" Skayr asked,

"too long ago." Zykan said, "she never should have put it on at all."

"I needed some way to get you to behave better. Just because I followed Damien's advice and allowed you to use more power doesn't mean you can act up like this. You could hurt someone." Annakhin said, she'd been getting more bold as of late and, though, apparently, she was letting Zykan loose more, she was keeping a tight hold on him, they were proud of her for that fact.

this whole thing is just getting too weird! First Lisa reminds me of Hiei, now Anna and Noah have turned into Kagome and Inu Yasha!–awk! I mean Skayr reminds me of Hiei, and Annakhin and Zykan remind me of Kagome and Inu Yasha! Geez! I need to get used to this whole thing and fast! If I can't figure it out now , what am I gonna do when Sephiroth pops up? 

"Azuril?" she snapped out of her thoughts,

I gotta quit getting lost in my own head, it isn't safe anymore. 

"Azuril," she looked around for a second, remembered where she was and looked in the direction her name had come from,

"Damien. What is it?" she said,

"we're gonna get to bed early, ok? I know you're always the first one up, and I don't like making people wait on my account." he said, they both looked back over towards the campfire when Zykan announced his return, and reminded them that where he went and what he did was none of their business.

"One of his odd little runs?" Azuril said,

"yup," Damien nodded. "He didn't give any lame-ass excuse this time, though. Just disappeared. Maybe she's letting him too loose."

"Did you even see him leave at all?" Bobby said, Skayr shook her head. They looked over at Azuril when she spoke up,

"Let her worry about him, she can control him, we cannot." Azuril said, "now, about getting to bed early."

"Oh, yeah. We're all gonna pass out over there ans I wanted you closer to the fire so you can at least keep warm." Damien said, Azuril stood up brushed some loose bark off of her and followed Damien back over to the fire side group. "Ok, all, here she is, let's sleep."

"Amen!" Zykan said, jumping up into a tree above Annakhin, Skayr perching herself in a tree as well, above Bobby. Everyone else just fell asleep where they sat. Azuril stayed awake and waited, watching the rest of the group, waiting for the slightest movement that would be out of place. None came. After about an hour, she unbuckled the cape, letting it fal to the ground, she normally didn't like being out in the open where people could see what had become of her, but no one was there to see her at the moment, so it was ok. She wasn't taking the bandana out, she'd end out spending half a day trying to get it back on, then she pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, resting her chin in them,

"I hope this doesn't appear too childish to anyone who might come by...a grown woman acting like a scared child...I'm still seventeen inside, I may physically be twenty seven, but, that's ten years worth of time gone in a heartbeat, and I didn't even get to stay conscious through it..." she watched the fire for a while, then spoke up again, "I wonder if Genevieve got to the life she wanted. And I wonder if Lizz enjoyed Florida. I wish I'd been there to see Anna's wedding. I hope Lisa got to live her own life, not her mother's. and I hope that Jessi made it to where she wanted to be. I wish I'd been there." suddenly, a small light went on in front of her, the tiny lights slowly multiplied, "fireflies?" she watched them flying around her, it reminded her of snow in a way, that an a shoujo manga or something of the sort... "what are you all doing here? It's far too late at night for you to be out." she said to a firefly that had landed on her left hand, "I don't suppose you even have a clue as to what you're standing on, do you?" the firefly glided away from her, several more replaced it. this looks like one of those scenes in an anime where something big and emotional pours out of the main character's mouth, either that or someone sings. Well, no point in keeping my public waiting, I've done my emotional spirt for tonight. "are you staying to complete the show? Or will you be gone in a second?" more fireflies appeared, floating around slowly, lighting up the small gap in the trees they'd stopped at while traveling through a forest, she found flowers opening all around them, flowers the same waxy and beautiful color the full moon was that night, some of its light shining through the trees down onto the flowers, making it look like they were glowing, more shoujo stuff, I'm gonna scream in a minute...and the Lunar Flowers from Wolf's Rain. Ok, this bitch is scaring me now. Well, apparently it won't stop until I do something shoujo-ish...I did the whole emotional thing, now what? Oh, yeah, normally, if it's not emotional blah, it's singing. Ok, I guess it's time for the fireflies to be glad that they have no ears...I can't believe I still remember this song. It's kinda pathetic if you think about it, but I mush make the shoujo go away! And to do that, I, unfortunately, must sing. (A/N: authoress really does have this song memorized. She also really does find it sad that she knows it so well. Authoress needs to get out more... (--) ;;) "well, if this is what you want...then I must give." she closed her eyes for a second, processing all of the words for the song, sometimes she got several parts mixed up with each other, even through a 1027 year life span, she was still a ditz at heart. Four Seasons...I can do this. Besides, who's gonna know whether or not it's wrong? 

"_Aishi aeba wakareyuku  
Sonna deai kurikaeshita  
Kioku fukaku tesaguri de  
Amai kage wo motomete wa_"  
slowly, one by one, everyone open one eye only the slightest bit, watching the fireflies dancing and swaying to a song they weren't supposed to hear.  
"_I can taste the sweetness of the past  
Doko ni mo anata wa inai kedo  
I'll be alright  
Me wo tsubureba soko ni  
Kawaranai ai wo  
I believe_"  
Bobby and Skayr fought back their smirks when they noticed, each looking at the scene out of one early crack eye, everyone else was doing the same thing, Azuril had moved back to the tree stump she'd been sitting on before, the fireflies following her like a veil of some kind, the moonlit flowers were still everywhere and moon beams still shown through the trees to light the scene more. It looked like something out of a story book in a way, an impossible, make believe fairy tale, because this was impossible.  
"_Haru no hikari atsumetara hana sakasete  
Natsu wa tsuki ukabu umi de mitsumete  
Aki no kaze fuyu no yuki mo  
Sono toiki de atatamete hoshii  
Four seasons with your love  
Mou ichi dou_"  
this time, the two girls did smirk, the normally melancholy girl they'd come to know and get used to looked now serene, holding her hand out and watching fireflies circle it, one landing on her fingertip, the flowers were sparkling a bit more and the moonbeams were shifting around, some shining down on the camp, making everyone close their eyes fully for a second, then they got up enough courage to open their eyes fully, watching Azuril be somehow amazed by the fireflies and the flowers.  
"_Negai dake no yakusoku wa  
Toki ga tateba iroaseru  
Can you feel me underneath the skin?  
Anna ni kasaneta omoi nara  
We'll be alright  
Shinjite ireba sou  
Donna tookute mo  
Stay with me_"  
the next time the moon's light shifted hit Damien square in the face, he could feel Bobby kick him the tiniest bit, reflexes, the moon had blinded her too, he saw some leaves fall from off to his left a bit, it got Skayr too. He didn't move, he knew she'd stop if she heard movement, then he'd never live it down. Azuril was partially turned away from them now, she had several flowers laying on her lap and was snow looking up, most likely trying to see the moon through the canopy of trees, the same moon that Damien found himself blinded by again. Why was everything suddenly acting so oddly, like a play that had already been rehearsed and finalized for them. Was it Azuril that was doing all of this? Planning it out and setting it up somehow? Doubtful. Bobby and Skayr had to tell them to stay awake ib order to see the show, and they'd done a pretty good job at keeping it secret. Still, it felt planned out somehow. Someone wanted this to be seen.  
"_Haru no hana nemuru yoru ni mukae ni kite  
Natsu no sunahama ni message nokoshite  
Aki no ame fuyu no namida  
Kazaranu ai de atatamete hoshii  
Four seasons with your love  
Nagareru toki wo kokoro ni  
Ari no mama ni  
Futari no hibi wa mou sugu omoide  
Ai mo yume mo wasure mono  
Itsu no hi demo atatamete hoshii  
Four seasons with your love  
Mune no oku_"  
who would be smart enough, quick enough and thorough enough to plan all of this? The perfect setting to get Azuril relaxed enough to do something she'd most likely shoot herself in the foot than do in front of people, the riming, the beautiful, fairy tale scenery, all of it. Who would bother with all of that? And why? When he noticed Azuril was standing up to come back by the fire, he shut his eyes,

she still has the flowers. That'll look suspicious in the morning though. What's she gonna do with them? then he gave in to real sleep.

"Damien, wake up, wake up!" Miko said excitedly,

"what? I'm up." he said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, then he was met with a handful of flowers,

"did you give me these? Because I know Zykan didn't."

"Damn straight."

"Down."

wham!

"$ &! $$ #& #$ $!"

"Huh? But, those are-" he was cut off when Miko hugged him,

"oh, thank you, you're so sweet!" she said, Damien looked around the campsite, finally finding what he was looking for, giving her a questioning look, he looked a little betrayed. Azuril closed her eyes and turned away, walking over to where Bobby sat, she sighed loudly,

"you put the flowers there, didn't you?" she said, looking up at Azuril, who didn't answer, "you shouldn't play with people like that, Azuril. It's not right."

"I do wish for a day when everyone practices what they preach." Azuril said, then she headed for the stump she'd been sitting on last night, "besides, he doesn't fully know it, but I do, and he deserves better than anything I will ever be able to give him. He only needed help seeing that. If I must, I will continue to attempt to prove that to him." she said, then she walked over to the tree stump and sat down quietly, watching Damien and Miko, even though I don't deserve him, I'm still disturbed at the fact that he looks like Genevieve, and has it bad for me, let's not forget that I'm starting to fall for him, I think...I'd better move faster with this. I need to get rid of the feelings before they do me in. Sorry, Damien, you might care for me that way, but you don't know me, I can't let you in. she thought, looking miserable,

"Those two should just get together and get it all over with already. I'm tired of soap operas around every corner." Zykan said, Annakhin gave him an irritated look,

"well, if that's the way you think it is, then you're right, we should do something, before the dramatic and sad ending happens." she said, Bobby and Skayr nodded.

"It looks like Azuril planned on getting him closer to Miko, you know, metaphorically speaking, she planted the flowers by Miko and left the rest to chance." Bobby said, Skayr folded her arms over her chest and tilted her head to the side a bit,

"but, if she wanted Damien away from her, why not tell him herself, not use props and tricks." she said,

"Don't ask me to fathom the way she thinks. She's too unpredictable." Zykan said, swatting at a bug that wouldn't leave him alone, "anybody got a fly swatter?"

"She must not want to see him hurt right away, that's why she did it this way." Annakhin said, watching Miko and Damien, who looked totally lost. Then she looked at Azuril, who had schooled herself back into a non-caring appearance, though the fact that she felt guilty about what she'd done was evident because of her unwavering watching of the pair. "She already feels terrible about it, but, they were getting along so well before. What changed so quickly?"

"Maybe she doesn't want to feel that way about someone who looks like an old friend, a female friend at that." Zykan said, then he got fed up with the bug and started after it with his scythe, "hold still, ya little shit!"

"Should we stop him?" Bobby said, watching Zykan, Annakhin shook her head,

"let him work of the frustration." she said,

"your call." Bobby said, shrugging and turning her attention back to Miko and Damien, "I wonder how she's taking that scene in as...two old friends, as Zykan stated, female at that, acting that way."

"She probably despises it." Skayr said, "if I were in her position, seeing everything the same way she does, I wouldn't be able to take it. It would be too odd to me, especially because her brain is still attached to the past to a certain a bit of an extreme, she must be doing a lot of inner struggling at this point, it'd just be too much to take in at once." she turned her head to look at Azuril, who finally growled angrily and stood up, they figured to go and drag poor Damien away from Miko, but, instead of doing that, she stormed of into the forest. Everyone was staring at the spot she had once been in,

"what's with her?" Miko said, confused, she and Damien became even more confused when the rest of the group suddenly became very nervous.

"She heard us, didn't she?" Zykan said,

"if she had, she'd have shot us by now." Skayr said, looking around, "I only hope she isn't angry enough to turn into that monster."

"She called it the 'Galian Beast'." Damien said absently, prying himself away from Miko so he could stand properly, "let's go."

"Another fox hunt..." Skayr whined, Zykan gave a similar response but Annakhin was quick to tell him that he was helping whether he liked it or not. Once he'd climbed out of the crater that had formed while was being convinced to aid in the search, he let Annakhin up onto his back and carried her like that,

"this never leaves the group." he muttered, slightly pissy at the fact that he had to jump from tree to tree while carrying his scythe and a passenger.

"Hey, what happens at camp, stays at camp." Bobby called up to him from where she, Damien and Miko were forced to stay, Skayr was ahead of the group a bit, also hopping from tree to tree, acting as a moving look-out.

"I think I hear something, stop." Skayr suddenly called back at the group, who did as told, Bobby's hand already holding the strap on her boomerang.

"What is it, Skayr?" Miko called, Skayr waved back, motioning for her to keep quiet a moment longer. Then she relaxed,

"it's gone." she said,

"what did it sound like?" Damien looked up at her as he spoke, she looked down at them,

"I'm not sure. It wasn't someone walking through here on foot, or any type of wild animal I've ever heard."

"Do you think it's Azuril and she headed off away from us because she knew she was about to pop and didn't want to hurt us?" Bobby said relaxing as well, Skayr shrugged,

"maybe. I can't be sure until I hear it better. It went that way," she pointed of to the right, "let's go." then she was off again, headed after the noise like she was magnetized to it.

"Well, let's try to catch up to her." Damien said, running after Skayr, everyone else following his example,

"I hope we 'catch the fox' soon, or I'm going to find my way back to camp." Miko snapped, annoyed.

"Well, a fox won't come out of its den, or hiding spot, until it's sure danger's passed it up. Even then, it'll wait a bit, just to be safe." Bobby said, she'd done some hunting before she joined the group, she knew a bit about almost every animal they'd come up against, though she'd never actually tried or wanted to hunt foxes, they were cool little creatures to know about, though.

"That's a nice tid-bit of information, Bobby. But Azuril's not a real fox. She just manages to hide and get around when she's running from something she doesn't want to catch up to her exactly like a fox might, quietly, cleverly and impossible to catch. Even if she's anything but camouflaged." Damien said, Miko gave him a look,

"sounds like you read a lot into her personality and abilities, Damien." she said, Damien slowed a bit so Bobby was ahead of him, and Miko was ahead of Bobby, as opposed to back by him, thin ice was being tread on if that area of conversation, he wasn't going there.

"Hey!" Zykan suddenly yelled, Skayr jumping back to them when she heard him yell, "she abandoned the cape." he said, pointing to said item, which Annakhin was holding, "why would she do that?"

"Hell, I don't know. Once we catch the fox, we'll worry about its tricks." Bobby said.

"Maybe she found it easier to move without it and discarded it, to come back for it later." Skayr suggested.

"Again, we're asking the fox, not each other." Bobby said, then she started to focus on where she was going instead of talking while not running into things. "Anything up ahead at all?" she called up to Skayr, who shook her head,

"aside from more trees, no."

"that's what I was afraid you'd say." Bobby said flatly,

"we should go back." Miko said, "she'll probably be there when we get back to camp. She can take care of herself. She had her gun with her."

"She's defiantly safe if she had that damn thing!" Zykan cried, "she could hit a thimble from who knows how far back. Then there's her transformations."

"Damien, Zykan has a point." Annakhin said, "she can take care of herself. She's been telling you that for a while." they all stopped running, hard to hold a conversation if you were running.

"I know, but I just want to be sure." Damien said,

"So, we run all over the place in this goddam forest until finally we get back to camp and there she is sitting there waiting for us?" Zykan said, Miko shrugged, looking at Damien,

"they have a point. I know I'm just making it sound like I don't want to find her, but I agree with those two, we can't keep running around like this. Eventually we'll be out of energy and stuck in the middle of a forest. We should go back."

"I cut a symbol into each tree I landed on, we can follow those back to camp." Skayr said, "let's go, Damien. She is fine. I know it." Damien finally gave up and nodded his consent,

"let's go." he said, still looking from side to side as he walked, I don't care what you say, I'm still going to at least try to look out for you. he thought, wondering why she kept running from them.

"See? What'd we tell ya. There she is. Out cold, but there she is." Zykan said as they returned to camp to find their 'fox' curled up in an unconscious attempt to get warmer, lying on the ground next to the fire. "Looks like she ran outta steam."

"You're weird." Miko said, giving Zykan an odd look, he glared,

"you're one to talk!" he let Annakhin down and was then allowed to argue furiously with Miko.

"That boy has a lot of pent up aggression." Bobby said, watching the argument with an odd look on her face. Skayr jumped out of the tree she'd been in and landed next to Bobby, then she looked at Annakhin,

"You're not going to silence him?" she said, slightly surprised when she shook her head,

"we'll let him work it off a bit. In about half an hour we'll see how he's doing." she said, Bobby and Skayr just shrugged, then the three of them walked away, over to where Damien was, he was dropping more wood onto the fire.

"Isn't it big enough?" Bobby said, "it comes up to my hips."

"And the pyro's complaining about fire. Then, hell froze over." Damien said absently, Bobby decided against kicking him while he was so close to a semi-large fire.

"Ok, you have a point, give me that log."she said, snatching it from him and sitting down next to the fire, poking at the rest of the wood that was already burning, slowly making the fire grow taller, grinning the entire time. Skayr sighed, shaking her head in exasperation, then she dragged the water they'd brought over by the fire for when it was as tall as she was, Bobby had nasty habits of making fires bigger quicker.

"You sadden me greatly." Damien said, Bobby poked at him with a burning stick, making him back up fast,

"shut up! Or I'll light your ass on fire and laugh at you while you run around like a chicken with its head cut off!" she said, Skayr rolled her eyes,

"god help us." she muttered, Zykan walked over, obviously bored with the argument, he normally walked away from whatever bored him,

"Ladies and gentleman, this is Bobby, she likes to burn things." he said fake enthusiastic,

"I'll burn your ass too, shit head." she threatened,

"Oo, I'm scared!" he said mockingly, then he pointed at the stick Bobby still held, laughing when the flame went out and Bobby spazzed,

"you little ass!" she snapped,

"I can be worse." he said, "I won't even charge you for it."

"Why you-" she stopped when Zykan vanished from in front of her, "what the hell?" she was then hit with an acorn, she looked up and found Zykan lounging on a tree branch above her head, "you little shit!"

"I love you too." he said lazily, Bobby stood under him screaming swear words, red in the face from her anger, suddenly, she found herself calmed sown at the sound of one word,

"down." Annakhin said, ignoring the loud 'thud' of Zykan hitting the ground, then the hysterical laughter from Bobby.

"Is it sad that that's becoming normal?" Miko said,

"No," Damien said, poking the fire with the stick Bobby had abandoned, "it only becomes sad if we start begging her to let us try it somehow."

"Then I was made a fool about a second after it happened the first time." Skayr said, Miko and Damien gave her odd looks, then their gaze switched to Azuril, Damien had covered her up in her cape, when she made a small noise, "is she waking up?"

"Lisa...?" Azuril said in a small and unsure voice, like a small child.

"What?" Skayr said, exchanging a confused look with Miko, who shrugged and shook her head a bit,

"your guess is as good as mine." she said, then she jumped when Azuril gave a small whine, Bobby and Zykan walked over to the group, Annakhin looked up at them,

"she heard Skayr talk and then she said a name." she said, motioning towards Azuril, who folded in on herself tighter,

"is she ok?" Bobby asked, walking over to kneel next to Azuril, "hey, wake up. It's a dream. Azuril, wake up." but the only response was an even louder whine, "wake up!" she said, louder, hoping to wake Azuril quick,

"Jessi?...I'm sorry...don't be mad..." Azuril said desperately, still sounding small and child-like.

"Wha-" Bobby started, but Damien cut her off, kneeling down next to her,

"she keeps mentioning nightmares. This must be one of them. She sees what she hears. You and Skayr, her cousin and best friend." he said quietly, hoping to avoid Azuril hearing his voice,

"Ok, I get it. But, what about you? You look and sound like a boy, but she sees a female friend in you. What are you gonna do when all she seems to think of you as is a girl?" Bobby said, Damien hesitated, then answered, slightly shaking, but firm,

"then I'll let her see her friend. She hasn't in a very long time. Even if that means I have to live with being someone else." he said, Skayr had a mildly surprised look on her face, Zykan looked nauseous, Annakhin was smiling, Bobby was grinning and Miko was staring dumbly,

"what!" she cried, Azuril cringed and curled up further, whimpering a bit, Damien gave Miko a glare that told her to cool it for now, Bobby had gone straight to trying to sound like she was Azuril's cousin as she tried to get her to wake up, "Damien, you can't just fake it for just one person's loyalty, you should be you and if she doesn't like it then forget it."

"Miko, once we get her truly used to this time period, I'll work on separating the past from the present. Until then I need to get her loosened up a bit. Figuratively and literally." he said as he tried to coax Azuril out of the curled up position she'd put herself in, "damn, even in her sleep she stronger than I thought she'd be." he muttered, she wouldn't budge. "Bobby, can't you do anything more?"

"Hey, you try acting like a dead girl!" Bobby snapped, then she went back to trying to wake Azuril, ignoring the odd look Damien was giving her.

"O...kyay..." he said, still giving Bobby a slightly disturbed look,

"Damien, just give it up, man. Let her sleep. She'll wake up Eventually." Zykan said, pulling at the charm on his choker.

"She's having a nightmare that we can't wake her from, doesn't that sound bad to anyone else here?" Damien said,

"she's an unusual person, Damien, she might just end out ok." Annakhin said, "all we have to do is be there for her when she wakes up."

"Yeah, and she fell asleep by herself, knowing the nightmares would come, let her sleep. She can wake up whenever she wants." Miko said. Skayr stayed silent, Damien glared at them for a second then looked over at Bobby, who shook her head,

"I got nuthin. Sorry. They might win this one, she might have to fine the exit by herself." she said, they looked at Azuril when she whimpered again,

"or, she might not." Damien said, then he shook her by the shoulders, "Azuril, wake up! It's a nightmare, it's not real!" he said as he stopped shaking her, she seemed to relax a bit,

"Damien?" she said in the same afraid and childish voice she'd been using, he nodded, even though he knew she couldn't see it,

"yeah. It's me. Azuril, wake up. Whatever it is you see, it's a dream. It's not real. Open your eyes." he said, giving her another shake.

"You're still there..." she said in her normal voice, then she collapsed forward and everyone, including Damien, watched her grab hold if Damien's shirt and start crying while leaning against him. "You're still here. You aren't-you're here." she said, once he recovered, he pulled her into a more comfortable position and wrapped his arms around her, holding her to him,

"yeah, I'm here. It's ok. I'm still here." he said quietly, avoiding looking at the rest of his friends, he didn't want to deal with shock or taunts yet, he Especially avoided Miko.

"What the hell was that about!" Miko screeched at Damien, who cringed,

"hold it down, will ya? I like being able to hear things." he said, Miko just glared, she was seething mad,

"does it look like I care at all! What was that about, Damien! You went from faking your identity to somehow worming your way into her dream from earlier! What's the big idea! First, you ignore me, then you give me flowers, then you go totally overboard with mixed signals!"

"I'm sorry if you thought it was me sending mixed signals, but I wasn't sending any signals! I didn't give you the flowers! Azuril must have put them there because she knew how you would react! She was trying to distance me from her!"

"So, she used me!"

"I guess so!"

"And you just let her do it!"

"I would have gotten to her earlier but you were hanging on me, then she ran off!"

"Why didn't you stay then, after she left!"

"I didn't want to possibly leave her behind."

"Damien, we've known each other for how long? And you can't ever hide something from me, I can read you too well. And right from the start, I partially wanted to close that coffin lid. You were falling for her from the beginning, even after she said she saw a female friend in you! Even though she still thinks of you partly as being that girl!"

"But, she used her cousin's name when she talked to me." Bobby interrupted, Skayr nodded,

"and she used her best friend's name when referring to me." she said,

"come to think of it, man, she only said your real name, not her friend's. whether it's because she heard a boy's voice and recognized it that way, or because she knows who you are fully now, I am not sure." Zykan said, he was looking at Azuril, who had stopped crying and was now simply asleep in Damien's lap, still clinging to his shirt.

"The least you could do is get her off of you." Miko snapped, glaring at Azuril,

"she won't budge. Bobby and I tried earlier remember?"

"Yeah, we would have to undress him half way to get her off of him. And he wasn't up for that." Bobby said, Damien turned red and glared at her, "what? I tell it like I see it."

"Shut up." he snapped, still red in the face,

"what? No show, Damien? I'm disappointed." Skayr joked, Damien turned an even darker shade of red,

"shut up! Shut up, shut up!" he snapped, glaring from Skayr to Bobby and back again. Miko turned slightly pink,

"fine! Keep her then! What about when she wakes up? Then what?" she said, still angry,

"I'll deal with it when it comes." Damien said, shrugging. Annakhin walked over to them, holding Azuril's cape,

"here, cover her at least a bit with this. She'll just want it back when she wakes up anyway." she said, handing the cape to Damien, who followed Annakhin's instructions.

"Great! Now you're babying her. Very mature, Damien." Miko snapped,

"go have your jealousy trip somewhere else, Miko. She'll be herself again when she wakes up and we can go on like this never happened. Until then, let's at least give her a chance to sleep without nightmares haunting her around every turn." Damien said, they had a glare down for a second, then Miko stormed off in a huff,

"this won't end well." Bobby said,

"my money's on Miko gets shot." Zykan said, Skayr looked at him,

"My money's on she gets eaten by the Galian Beast." she said, Bobby's turn,

"mine's on Damien gets fed up with her and turns her into shish-kebab."

"You do realize you're all betting against her, don't you?" Annakhin said,

"safest bet." the trio said in unison,

"we, uh...ok..." the subject was dropped, for a second, then Annakhin looked at the trio, holding up her money, "my money's on Damien boots her from the group for being annoying." Skayr, Zykan and Bobby all stared at her, then each other, then at her again,

"we're in." they said in unison

"in on what?" Damien asked as he walked over to them, carrying Azuril, who still refused to let him go.

"Nothing." all four of them said at the same time. Damien gave them an odd look,

"don't do that again." he said, "it's creepy."

"So, what's the buzz with you and Miko and Azuril?" Bobby said, Damien twitched,

"she thinks I'm doing this to get her away from me." he said,

"by 'she' you mean Miko, don't you?" Bobby said, he nodded, "when actually what it's all about is painfully obvious." she said, he blanched, "thought so. Well, if that's the case, then we'd better detach her from the past, and fast, she still, in some tiny corner of her mind, thinks you're her friend from one thousand years ago."

"I know. This might not be as hard if her friend wasn't a girl." Damien said,

"tough shit, man. You're gonna have to deal with it and figure out a way around it, or a way to close it off. Then she'll see you as you completely." Zykan said, leaning on his scythe.

"Please don't mess with that thing while you are so close to my head." Bobby said,

"shut up.

"Down."

"Ack!"

thud

"ok, now that we've gotten that out of the way..." Damien said, watching Zykan stand up and brush the dirt off of himself, "what to we do with Miko?"

"Shoot her."

"Properly season her."

"Get the fire going nice and high and then find a spit."

"Give her some change of address forms."

"Um...I think I'll think of my own way of dealing with her."

"Til then, what're ya gonna do with Sleeping Beauty there?" Zykan said, pointing to Azuril, leaning on his scythe again, this time not near Bobby. Damien looked down at Azuril,

"good question. I think I'll just hope she wakes up soon. I can't carry her around forever."

"I will keep my comments to myself." Skayr said with a smirk,

"shut up." Damien said, he was red again.

"Ah, let him alone, he'll bust a vein or something." Bobby said, "but, seriously. What should we do? Miko's at an uncontrollable high, Azuril seems to be faking she doesn't care all too well if this was built up inside her. And if her first few transformations were based on an OD in adrenalin, we need to figure something out before we all owe Zykan or Skayr money,"

"what do you mean by that?" Damien asked, giving them a suspicious look,

"we made bets on Miko's future in our group." Annakhin said, "I bet that you would boot her, Bobby bet that you would shish-kebab her, Skayr bet that she'd be eaten by the Galian Beast, and Zykan bet that she would get shot."

"Oh. That's not too disconcerting or anything." Damien said, then he heard a small murmur from close by, looked around a bit, then looked down at Azuril, who was finally coming to. "Are you alright?" he asked carefully. She looked around a bit, finally processed her surrounding, had a momentary spaz attack and ended out knocking Damien over and falling on top of him in a quick attempt to stand up. He went rigid, "um..."

"Oh, no!" Annakhin said, biting her lip so she wouldn't laugh. Zykan had to turn away to avoid laughing, Bobby buried her face in her lap and covered her head with her arms to muffle her snickering, Skayr was turned away as well, trying to stifle her own laughter

"good...morning?" he said in a tiny voice. She still looked stunned, not fully awake yet.

"Damien?"

"Yup."

"What are you..." then she paused, looked around, and woke up all the way very quick, "I-I--" she stammered as she attempted to get up without hurting Damien, she fell back down on him from a sudden shock when something that no one wanted to hear made itself known.

"Damien! What are you doing!" Miko screamed, staring wide-eyed, everyone could practically see the anger rising around her, "what is your problem!"

"This is so not what it looks like." Damien said hastily, "shewokeupandbuggedoutandwebothkindaendedouttrippingovereachotherandnowI'mstuckunderherand-"

"breath, Damien!" Zykan said, "you're making me suffocate just by listening to you!" Damien took several deep breaths,

"ok, we'll try this again, this is not what it looks like, we both ended out tripping over each other when she woke up and had a short freak out. You just came in at the end of it, the part where we both get up-shut up, Zykan-"

"what'd I do?"

"It's what you were going to say. This is the part where we both get up and run to opposite sides of the camp and babble apologies at each other until we both give up on it and sit in silence."

"Then get laughed at." Bobby added,

"if you want, sure." Damien said, getting more and more nervous, "ok, we're getting away from each other now."

"Don't you mean you're 'getting up', Damien?" Zykan said, grinning Cheshire Cat style, Damien glared at him,

"I'll kill you for that." he said,

"Damien-" Azuril started, but stopped right away, eyes growing wide, cheeks turning some-what pink

"shit." she was on the opposite side of the campsite before he'd finished that one word, knees pulled up tightly to her chest, arms wrapped around them to keep them up, eyes wide as she watched the scene play out from the opposite end of the camp. "Dammit! Dammit dammit dammit!" he sat up, ripping at his hair, Zykan fell over laughing,

"oh, man, I'm good! Hah! I knew it!" several seconds later Skayr and Bobby were on the ground laughing as well, Annakhin had her hands over her mouth, either in shock, or trying to hide her laughter, no one knew. Miko looked horrified, Damien continued ripping at his hair and swearing, Azuril was sitting perfectly still, on the edge of the campsite, watching the rest of the group,

w-w-what the hell was that about! I've got to finish this game fast now! And I mean fast!–before either Miko kills me, or I try shooting myself because of all the chaos I'm causing. We're doing this fast. I'm a masochist, not a martyr! she crawled back over by the rest of the group, Annakhin and Skayr noticed her first,

"are you alright?" Annakhin asked, she nodded,

"are you sure you want to go back over there?" Skayr said, pointing behind her towards where Zykan and Bobby were still trying to calm themselves and Miko was now screaming nonstop at Damien, who was still red in the face, and covering his ears.

"Yes. I owe him." she said, staying down low, crawling over to where Damien sat, she was about to speak when a comment Miko made stabbed a vein she didn't know she had,

"you're turning into some kind of freak, Damien! You two are starting to belong together you'll be just as weird as her soon-!" a bullet shot past her head, missing by only a centimeter,

"the next time I pull this trigger, I won't miss." Azuril hissed, she was up on one knee now, in front of Damien, blocking Miko from him, "you yell at him for being an unfair and ignorant friend and person in general, but then you never bother to listen to or take into consideration his side of the story. Your jealousy is clouding your judgment even further now. You may end out hurting more than his pride one of these times. Think before you start to over react. You will most likely lose something irreplaceable if you don't. Let him have his own interests, feeling and life. If you care for him at all, you will be satisfied and complete when you know he is happy. even then, you won't lose him completely, he will still be there to call you his friend." then she stood up and grabbed Miko by the throat, "and don't you ever compare him to me, he is far better than that. And I don't deserve the recognition. I am the freak and the monster, not him. As far as I have seen and heard from him, he could never be a monster. Not him, maybe all of you at times, and myself all the time, but not him. Understand?" she said angrily, Miko gave a small nod, then fell over when Azuril dropped her hold on her. She stayed there, sitting on the ground coughing a bit, watching Azuril walk back to the other side of the camp site, putting her gun away and taking her seat from earlier, bowing her head slightly and closing her eyes.

"Please, dear God, don't let her fall asleep again." Bobby moaned

"poke her with a stick, see if she moves." Zykan said, Bobby gave him a flat look,

"if she does move, it'll probably be solely to grab her gun and pump you full of lead." Zykan whimpered and hid behind Annakhin. Damien watched Miko pull herself together for a second, then turned to look at Azuril, she didn't move, or acknowledge him, she just kept her eyes closed and sat there quietly.

'_I am the freak and the monster, not him...he could never be a monster...'_ Azuril, what did that mean? You're a monster? Only in your own mind. Why would you do that for me? he thought, watching her for a while more.

what the hell did I do that for? I don't want him to be attached to me in the way he is. Standing up for him like that and saying all of those things, it just complicates matters more and more...but still...I couldn't let her do that to him. He's not to blame for any of this, it's not his fault, nature fucked him over there. I shouldn't have run as fast as I did too. This relates, remotely, to that accident at school a while back-at the time a while back...I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have made them cry. I shouldn't have even spoken to them afterwards. Yeah, that would mean more pain in places I can't help anyways, but I would have felt better...if I hadn't made them cry. 

"Azuril?"

"What?" she said softly, not opening her eyes or looking up, she could hear him sit down in front of her, but she didn't want to see him, she didn't want to possibly see more tears.

"Open your eyes, please. Look at me." she shook her head,

" I can't do that." she said, readying herself to fight her own sadness as the possibility of scaring him away, or hurting him, weighed heavily on her, she wouldn't look at him, she'd just see tears. "It's the same thing as when I broke down."

"What?"

"I hurt them. They'd done me a favor and I assume something different before I even bothered to look deeper into it. I broke down, yelling, screaming at them, and when I finally walked away...all I could think of was what a monster I'd become that day...of how terrible I'd been, this spread, gossip and whispers, and I heard from the rumors about me that they'd cried." she stopped, bowing her head more, hoping her face was hidden, tears were escaping, and she couldn't stop them, "...they'd cried, and I caused it. I couldn't stop hating myself...I still do, and always will, for that one incident alone. I'd die to go back in time and fix it. I'd do anything, sacrifice everything, just to listen to them, and see them smile, not cry." there was no response for a second, then she felt a hand on her cheek,

" what about your tears?" Damien asked, gently gripping her chin and lifting her gaze, her eyes were open and she was staring in confusion, he let his other hand wipe the tears away from her eyes, more replaced them, "did you cry too?"

"Yes. I hadn't cried in so many years, but I cried for them, I didn't think I remembered how, and part of my mind kept wondering if I was doing it right. But if there is one thing that can and will get me to shed my tears it is them." her eyes widened in surprise for a second when Damien pulled her to him, like a doll, a rag-doll... she thought, closing her eyes, they snapped open again when Damien spoke next,

"you cried during your nightmare, when you said my name. Were you crying because of me?" she sat in silence for a second, she could feel his heart beating fast, she could also early hear him taking several shaky breaths,

he's crying... she pulled away from him and then gently pushed him down so his head was resting on her lap, he looked confused, but closed his eyes and smiled when she rested her human hand on his cheek, "Yes, Damien. I was crying for you. Crying because in my nightmares, you were taken away from me...some place I couldn't follow, and I didn't want to be alone. I was crying for you." he shifted and moved a bit and wrapped one arm partially around her waist, pulling himself closer to her,

"thanks." he said tiredly, "I didn't want to think I was the bad guy in all of that pain. Go ahead, cry for them. I'll take care of crying for you." he said, she ran her fingers through his hair several times before just resting her hand there,

"I'd never even contemplate thinking of contemplating something remotely close to this with the girl you resemble, but I would cry for her, and die for her, and everything in-between, if it meant I could see my friend smile, Damien, there is your similarity to her, I would sacrifice everything for both of you." Damien grinned,

"nice to know I'm loved. Even when I was a girl."

"Anyone else who heard that would be terribly disturbed."

"Yeah, well, their loss."

"Damien, you are something different in every way."

"_He drowns in his dreams_

_An exquisite extreme I know_

_He's as damned as he seems_

_and More Heaven than a heart could hold_

_And if I try to save him_

_My whole world could cave in_

_it Just ain't right_

_It just ain't right_

_Oh and I don't know_

_I don't know what he's after_

_But he's so beautiful_

_He's such a beautiful disaster_

_And if I could hold on_

_Through the tears and the laughter_

_Would it be beautiful_

_Or just a beautiful disaster_

_he's magic and myth_

_As strong as what I believe_

_A tragedy with_

_More damage than a soul should see_

_But do I try to change him?_

_So hard not to blame him_

_Hold me tight_

_baby Hold me tight_

_Oh and I don't know_

_don't know what he's after_

_But he's so beautiful_

_Such a beautiful disaster_

_And if I could hold on_

_Through the tears and the laughter_

_Would it be beautiful?_

_Or just a beautiful disaster?_

_I'm longing for love and the logical_

_But he's only happy hysterical_

_I'm searching for some kind of miracle_

_Waiting so long _

_I've waited So long_

_He's soft to the touch_

_But frayed at the ends he breaks_

_He's never enough_

_And still he's more than I can take_

_Oh 'cause I don't know_

_Don't know what he's after_

_But he's so beautiful_

_Such a beautiful disaster_

_And if I could hold on_

_Through the tears and the laughter_

_Would it be beautiful_

_Or just a beautiful disaster_

_He's beautiful_

_Such a beautiful disaster_

_Beautiful, beautiful disaster_

_Beautiful Disaster_ "

---

Kelly Clarkson; _Beautiful Disaster; Break Away_


	7. ch 6 to love thy enemy

To Love Thy Enemy

"_Azuril?"_

"_What?" she said softly, not opening her eyes or looking up, she could hear him sit down in front of her, but she didn't want to see him, she didn't want to possibly see more tears._

"_Open your eyes, please. Look at me." she shook her head,_

" _I can't do that." she said, readying herself to fight her own sadness as the possibility of scaring him away, or hurting him, weighed heavily on her, she wouldn't look at him, she'd just see tears. "It's the same thing as when I broke down."_

"_What?"_

"_I hurt them. They'd done me a favor and I assume something different before I even bothered to look deeper into it. I broke down, yelling, screaming at them, and when I finally walked away...all I could think of was what a monster I'd become that day...of how terrible I'd been, this spread, gossip and whispers, and I heard from the rumors about me that they'd cried." she stopped, bowing her head more, hoping her face was hidden, tears were escaping, and she couldn't stop them, "...they'd cried, and I caused it. I couldn't stop hating myself...I still do, and always will, for that one incident alone. I'd die to go back in time and fix it. I'd do anything, sacrifice everything, just to listen to them, and see them smile, not cry." there was no response for a second, then she felt a hand on her cheek, _

" _what about your tears?" Damien asked, gently gripping her chin and lifting her gaze, her eyes were open and she was staring in confusion, he let his other hand wipe the tears away from her eyes, more replaced them, "did you cry too?"_

"_Yes. I hadn't cried in so many years, but I cried for them, I didn't think I remembered how, and part of my mind kept wondering if I was doing it right. But if there is one thing that can and will get me to shed my tears it is them." her eyes widened in surprise for a second when Damien pulled her to him, like a doll, a rag-doll... she thought, closing her eyes, they snapped open again when Damien spoke next,_

"_you cried during your nightmare, when you said my name. Were you crying because of me?" she sat in silence for a second, she could feel his heart beating fast, she could also early hear him taking several shaky breaths,_

_ he's crying... she pulled away from him and then gently pushed him down so his head was resting on her lap, he looked confused, but closed his eyes and smiled when she rested her human hand on his cheek, "Yes, Damien. I was crying for you. Crying because in my nightmares, you were taken away from me...some place I couldn't follow, and I didn't want to be alone. I was crying for you." he shifted and moved a bit and wrapped one arm partially around her waist, pulling himself closer to her,_

"_thanks." he said tiredly, "I didn't want to think I was the bad guy in all of that pain. Go ahead, cry for them. I'll take care of crying for you." he said, she ran her fingers through his hair several times before just resting her hand there,_

"_I'd never even contemplate thinking of contemplating something remotely close to this with the girl you resemble, but I would cry for her, and die for her, and everything in-between, if it meant I could see my friend smile, Damien, there is your similarity to her, I would sacrifice everything for both of you." Damien grinned,_

"_nice to know I'm loved. Even when I was a girl."_

"_Anyone else who heard that would be terribly disturbed."_

"_Yeah, well, their loss."_

"_Damien, you are something different in every way."_

"Azuril, wake up. We're leaving."

"Miko?" Azuril said, sounding quite confused, "but you were...and, Damien...but...where is Damien?" she babbled, still sounding calm,

"right here. Why what's up?" Damien said as he walked over to the two girls, "what is it, Azuril?" she just gaped, then looked back at Miko, then she sat still for a moment, very confused and frustrated.

but I just-all of that-what was-that a dream? Why the hell would I have a dream like that? I'm trying to get him away from me, not yank him into my arms. What is this! It's stress. It has to be. Yes. It's stress and he's the person I know the best here, my brain automatically made a freakish connection...like the time I had a freak nightmare where Lisa married my brother...that one freaked me out so bad I couldn't sleep for a month. This entire 'being turned into a video game character, stuck in a box for a thousand years, waking up and being tormented by the one person I hate the most, and having to travel around with these lunatics until I find that bitch and kill her, while dealing with the trials and conflicts of the journey itself' thing has defiantly done a good amount of damage to my brain. I'm even more psycho than I was before! 

"Azuril," Bobby called from the front of the group, "what do you think I'm going to say?"

"I still want to know how you did that so quickly, it's kinda creepy." Damien said, Bobby shrugged,

"when I figure out the answer, I'll tell you." she said, then she looked over her shoulder at Azuril, who had gone straight to where she was told to, "you look beat. What's the matter?"

"A...nightmare again...that's all." she said, still unsure of what she'd seen. was it a nightmare?-ack! What am I saying! Of course it was! That's the equivalent to Genevieve we're talking about-a girl friend of mine! It's still too weird! A/N: authoress is not bias with the who 'chick freaked out by chick' thing, very on the contrary. Authoress is, however, freaked out by the odd image she has created, she is far too used to her friend being the way she is, and that includes gender, and all of that other weird stuff, if authoress ever came across a male version of her friend, she would probably go comatose from shock. Authoress didn't help herself any in assuring lack of biasness and irritation with biasness, did she?...hopefully, the point has been made... ( . ) ) she shook her head a bit to clear it, I was right earlier, this place is driving me mad-er...driving me madder! The next thing you know, I'll be helping the enemy, or blowing the wrong person's brains out, or going comatose or something like that! Well, I'll just need to focus more! That's all! I'll bite my tongue and try to bear it when 'Sephiroth' comes, because I know whoever she picked to play that role in her game will have a familiar face to go with it. Ok. I can do this. I really can. 

"look!" Annakhin suddenly cried, pointing ahead of them, "smoke."

"Think someone's camping?" Zykan said, Skayr shook her head,

"not likely, with that amount of smoke." she said, then Bobby bolted, running towards the smoke,

"trust me, it's beyond a big-ass fire! This is too mush smoke to not be, at least, a few houses or barns!" she called over her shoulder, Damien and Azuril were off after her right away, Skayr close behind, then Zykan and Annakhin,

"you can't grow more or anything!" Zykan snapped, tired of carrying the small girl, she didn't answer him.

They looked around in horror, blood, fire and bodies were spread out before them, and entire town's worth of people.

"I hate it when I'm right on this kind of stuff." Bobby said quietly, Skayr kept silent, bowing her head slightly, her way of showing some honor to the dead in front of her, Annakhin covered her face behind her hands, already crying, Zykan mimicked Skayr, also showing some respect for the dead. Damien didn't move, talk or even breathe for a minute, then he jumped a bit and turned to look next to him at whoever had just let out a horrified gasp, Miko had her hands over her mouth in shock, her skin had lost all color and her eyes were wide with fear.

"Miko..." Damien said softly, touching her shoulder, she turned on him, crying and clinging to him, "it's ok. I know. It's just like home, I know. It scares me too." he said, hugging his friend, keeping his gaze away from the burning buildings, "we'll make it through this and make her pay. I know we will." Azuril watched the pair,

best friends...best friends there to comfort each other. Like me and Lisa... then she looked at the flames, sad to say I know what'll come to pass here. Our first look at the enemy... she thought, closing her eyes and bowing her head, she would show her own respect to the town's ruins and people, I'm sorry you had to die like this. For a game. Now, I have another sin to atone for. More blood to try to wash off of my hands. Unfortunately, soon, I will have to add your killer to my list of sins. she thought mournfully. all of this for a game? She's taking this too far, passing too many boundaries and limits. Involving my psychological and emotional well being was one thing, hurting my friends was another, higher, crime, bringing me out of one hell and into another was another thing, taking everything I've ever loved or cared for away from me and then tormenting me with it later is another thing, but taking a human life just for the plot line of this sick game is too much. I will cross that same boundary, when I kill her. She won't get away with this–huh? she walked into the town a ways, making everyone else spaz,

"what are you doing! Get away from there!" Bobby cried, but they all stopped when she stooped to pick up something, she stopped all movement once she had properly examined whatever it was she was holding, she swayed and staggered a bit when she turned to go back to them, as though she was in shock, her face was white and her eyes had widened in, what appeared to be, absolute horror.

"Azuril?" Miko said, worried about the other girl, who stopped moving when she stood about a yard away from them, hiding whatever she'd found under her cape, "what is it? What did you find?" Azuril shook her head, eyes unblinking,

"n-nothing. Nothing at all." she said in the smallest, most disturbingly sad and frightened voice they'd ever heard from her.

"You're beyond a shit liar." Bobby said, "what is it?"

"You...wouldn't understand...it's too important to me..." Azuril said, in the same small voice as earlier.

"Let's go put all of those fires out, see how many bodies we still have enough of to bury." Damien said, watch in shock as Azuril headed in first, "where are you-"

"I must find someone! Worry about yourselves." she said, then she crawled through a space between several broken beams

"Azuril, wait!" Skayr said, running over to the gap, Bobby grabbed her before she could go in after Azuril.

"Leave her alone for a while. She can turn into a monster if she gets into trouble." she said, Skayr looked back at the gap, then back to Bobby,

"alright." she said, then she followed her friend through the door to a, early standing, flame engulfed, house, looking around carefully for survivors, Bobby was controlling the flames, "Bobby, you are an alchemist, am I correct?" Bobby paused in her attempts to keep the fire down,

"yeah. So?" she said, Skayr put her hands on her hips and examined the flames blocking her path to the next room in the house,

"you are a flame alchemist?" she said,

"yes. That would be why they call me the Flame Alchemist, Skayr." Bobby said flatly, "and it's not just fire I can play with. I can mold everything, if given the right time, materials, energy and large boxes of cookies. I'm just infamous for burning things."

"Then 'alchemize' the flame away so I can move on through the house."

"It's not that simple. You know the whole 'for every action'-"

"there is and equal and opposite reaction. Yes I know, what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, in a small way, that relates-whoa!-" she paused to stick her hand against a flame, then shove it back, "ok, in a way, that relates to alchemy. You can't gain something without losing something else of equal value. Thus the 'equal and opposite reaction' part of the formula. For every action, for every gain, there is and equal and opposite reaction, there is an equal loss. Following me?"

"Yes. I believe so, you alchemists live by a skewed version of Newton's law."

"Pretty much."

"Then how do you make things change without sacrificing something in return?"

"Skayr, is this really the right time to be discussing this?"

"Fine. Now 'alchemize' me a path."

"Bitchy, bitchy." Bobby muttered, putting a hand to the floor, the wood on the doorway molded into an arch over Skayr, leaving the doorway cleared for her, "now sod off, whiner!" she said, going back to the flames.

Azuril growled angrily, finally giving in to her better judgement and unbuckling her cape, leaving it behind as she finally exited the odd series of, what could be considered, tunnels of planks, parts of walls early in tact furniture and other such things. She coughed a bit covering her nose and mouth to avoid suffocation for at least a second as she crawled back into the tunnel she'd exited, backing out with her cape.

"I'm surprised it didn't catch flame." she muttered to herself as she buckled it back onto her, the high collar made it slightly easier to avoid the smoke, she still coughed a lot, though. "I hope this smoke doesn't kill too quickly, if I lose...no! I need to keep looking, that's all." she walked around the small, untouched, are she'd found, calling for someone that wasn't answering, and thus was worrying her further still. "You're still alive, I know it! Stop hiding. This isn't a game, come out!" she yelled, "no one..." she sat on her feet when she decided to let her legs give out under her, resting the mystery item on her lap and staring at it, unblinkingly, tears already leaving clean trails down her ash covered face, "should have stayed to say good bye to you. Not run from you. I should have told to all about it, about this. But I can't now. Why would you be here in the first place? What brought you here?"

"Zykan-"

"if I hear the words 'can you make it a little wider' one more time, I'm dropping the damn shield." Zykan hissed, he was keeping a large shield up around himself and his three passengers, not happy about it, but forced to do it nonetheless.

"That's not what I was going to say." Damien said, then he pointed off to Zykan's left, "I wanted to know what you think you see over there." Zykan looked where Damien was pointing, tilted his head to the side a bit, then looked at Damien,

"Azuril. Why?"

"What condition does she look to be in?" the blond asked, Zykan looked again,

"looks like she's out cold. Why?-ack!" he then caught on to his own words, "what the hell happened to her!"

"Why we go ask her that." Miko said, some sarcasm there. Zykan glared,

"watch it, or you'll the first 'human french fry' in our group." then he popped them over to Azuril's little untouched corner of the fire-filled town, Damien and Annakhin getting to her first.

"Well, she's breathing." Damien said,

"that's always good to know." Zykan said,

"she's cover in ash and soot. What was she doing to get herself this dirty?"

"She was looking for someone. That's what she said anyway." Miko said,

"She was crying too." Damien muttered, noticing the tear trails on her cheeks.

"This girl is way more trouble than she's worth." Zykan said, Miko gave him a look,

"so are you, but we keep you around anyway." she said flatly,

"cut it out before it begins, you two." Damien said automatically, "how the hell'd she get so far without strangling herself with that cape?"

"Well, we found her in a coffin, maybe she's already dead and getting her throat yanked at tight enough to choke her doesn't do jack shit." Zykan said, another odd look from Miko, Annakhin gave him a withering look, Damien stared oddly at him,

"this is what you think of?" he said, Zykan growled and flipped him off. A mall cough and sharp intake of breath caught everyone's attention, "I think she's walking up." more coughing,

"Yup. She's waking up, and she defiantly just early missed death." Zykan said

"You've dealt with death?" Miko said, Zykan smirked, fangs visible,

"remember? I am death." Miko shuddered,

"I forgot about that fact."

"Let's go find Skayr and the pyro, then work on getting this place cleaned up." Damien said, carrying Azuril, who was still gasping and coughing, Zykan raised an eyebrow,

"you always end up the one who looks like the hero." he said, Damien tilted his head to the side a bit, confused,

"what?"

"You always end out looking like the 'prince charming who rescued the damsel in distress'. And I'll be damned if it isn't the same damn damsel every single time."

"Shut up and get us out of here." Damien growled, not up for talking about romance, that area was upside down for him at the moment and just thinking of the words 'love life' made his head spin.

"Whatever you say, boss." Zykan said sarcastically, then they were gone.

When a building blew up across town from them, the group knew they'd at least found Bobby, she had a very blunt way of solving problems.

"Hey, Flame Brain, how's it goin?" Zykan said lamely when Bobby turned away from what was once a burning store,

"that was sad, Zykan."

"I know. But I had to try something." Zykan said, shrugging.

"Where's Skayr?" Damien said, looking around for the normally stoic girl, they heard the sound of boards cracking, then dove to the ground when a ribbon-like string of white energy whipped out of a pile of boards nearby, swinging around like a whip, sending boards flying, crashing everywhere, reduced to splinters. When they looked up again, Skayr was crouched on one knee, shielding something from where the boards would have gotten it, the ribbon thinning into nothingness as the white glow at the tips of her fingers died away.

"Skayr!" Annakhin cried, "are you hurt?" Skayr shook her head, then she looked down, most likely at what she'd shielded from the falling boards.

"I don't get hurt that easily. And if I do, it heals faster than your wounds would." she said, then she uncovered what she'd found, a small black kitten. "You're safe now." she said, soft and kind, everything she normally wasn't.

"it's so cute!" Annakhin said as she and Bobby joined Skayr by the kitten,

"don't smother it, you'll scare it." Skayr said, Bobby grinned,

"I knew you were all warm and fuzzy on the inside."

"I'll have them carve that on your tombstone."

"Damien, we can keep him, right?" Annakhin asked, looking like an excited child as she cradled the kitten in her arms, Miko joining her, petting the kitten. It took several minutes for him to respond,

"we still have a bunch of work to do here. We'll hang onto him until this place is cleaned up, then I'll think about it." the four girls smiled brightly at him,

"thank you, Damien." Miko said,

"well, let's stop dragging ass, let's get going, we have a mess to clean up." Bobby said, grabbing her boomerang from where she'd abandoned it while running inside the burning house earlier, she leaned it against a nearby tree, Damien laid Azuril down under the tree as well, keeping her in the shade, Bobby raised an eyebrow, "what'd she do to herself now?"

"Nearly died from smoke inhalation, nothing major." Damien said, Bobby grinned,

"you're cute when you're bluffing."

"Yeah, yeah, go get to work."

"Wait!" Annakhin said, putting the kitten down by Azuril, "you stay here and keep her company until we get back, ok?" she said, then she walked over to where Miko stood, eyeing up a large pile of boards, "she was waking up before, but she's out again. Is that a good sign? Should we wake her?" Miko shook her head,

"let her rest. If what she's been saying is right, she won't die. She can't until the game is over, if you wanna say it how she would." she said, "help me with these boards."

---

"Skayr, over here!" Bobby called, clapping her hands together, "ready!" Skayr wound up and hurled a huge piece of what was once a roof at her friend, who put her arms out in front of her, palms out, when she made contact with the piece of roof, it turned to separate shingles, falling all around her, she kicked at them until she'd kicked them all into the huge hole she'd made, which was slowly filling with things from their odd game of catch.

"So, this is what you can do, aside from lighting things on fire, and controlling flames."

"Yes, partially. We had this talk already, you gonna throw me that door or do I have to make a hole under your feet to get rid of it?"

---

"So, what's the current status with you and Vampire Girl, anyway?" Zykan said, getting rid of a good portion of the debris in front of him with an absent flick of his wrist and scythe.

"You'd better watch where you point that thing." Damien said, pointing to Zykan's scythe, "and I have no clue whatsoever as to what you are talking about involving me and/or Vampire Girl."

"Bull."

"No, I mean it. I think she is a danger prone, somber, confusing, melancholy vampire." Zykan couldn't help but laugh at that one,

"dude, you are so dense."

"What?"

---

several more coughs and she could finally breath properly, she looked around a bit, getting herself up into a sitting position, leaning against the tree she'd been left under. After several minutes of quiet sitting, she unbuckled her cape, letting it fall off to the side. She sky rocketed when something made a noise from under her cape, then it started moving.

"Wha-!" she yanked her cape away and found the kitten Annakhin had left there curled up partially on her cape, she'd buried when she took the cape off. She sighed and relaxed, letting the part of her cape that wasn't occupied by a cat lay across her lap. she looked around for a second, then panicked, "where is it!" she crawled around the general area, that was still shaded by the tree, finally, she found what she was looking for and returned to her original spot. "Here you are. I thought I'd have to go find you again." she said, letting her new prized possession lay across her lap on top of her cape. Several seconds later she was clenching her fist around her prize, "my own life, my friends and family's lives, the lives of all those killed for the sake of this damned 'game' of hers-all of them, I thought they'd left me with nothing left for her to take from me. But she took a new life from me. She is taking think beyond too far...she adds more blood to my hands with every passing minute. I could not protect my friends from her, I could not protect myself from her, and now, I couldn't protect the one thing that I took for granted, should have taken more seriously, something that I was supposed to protect and love. I was _made to protect_! I was to protect her, not because of who she was, but because of what I was supposed to be!" she gasped and choked on several sobs, holding them back, "I haven't cried this much since I made them cry. My heart is cruel. I need someone to at least pretend to care, to at least say they understand. Like the Pardoners of the Plague Years...I am as good as a plague, and she was a plague, _the_ plague. I can beg for pardoning of my sins, can I not?" the kitten crawled onto her lap, settling down on the object of interest to Azuril. She was about to move the cat when she paused, thinking on something, Pardoner. The little black kitten from _The House on Hound Hill_. Seth's cat was named Pardoner. Well, this makes some bit of ironic sense. I'm begging for pardons for my sins and a little black kitten decides to answer, Seth's kitten, Pardoner. This fucked up hell has too many parallels. I will so enjoy killing her for all of this copyright infringement. the kitten mewed and Azuril blinked a bit, staring down at it, then she relaxed and started petting it. "I don't suppose you have a name?" a purr was her only answer, why did I expect a response? she thought lamely, then she focused on the cat again, "well then, may I name you?" another purr, "I will take that as a 'yes'."

---

"Miko, look, Azuril's awake." Annakhin said, pointing to the tree Azuril was sitting under. Miko looked at the girl being spoken of and grinned,

"she found our friend. And I think he likes her." she said, meaning the kitten.

"Should we tell the others she's up?"

"No, again, let's let her be for I bit."

---

"what do you think of the name 'Pardoner'? Is it to your liking?" Azuril said, the kitten mewed again, still purring loudly as she stroked its plush fur, "please, even if it's only once, live up to your name for me..."

"So, what's the current status with you and Vampire Girl, anyway?"

"You'd better watch where you point that thing. And I have no clue whatsoever as to what you are talking about involving me and/or Vampire Girl."

"Bull."

"No, I mean it. I think she is a danger prone, somber, confusing, melancholy vampire."

"dude, you are so dense."

"What?"

"What? Damien? Zykan?" she caught sight of the two boys heading past the pile of debris that Annakhin and Miko were working on. "What are they-ah!" she started to stand up but was forced back down by a large amount of tiny pin pricks on her leg, she looked down and realized Pardoner was still on her lap, he'd sunk his claws into her leg to get a grip on staying where he was. "I'm sorry, my friend." she said, settling back down and resuming her petting him.

"You know that's all foreplay." Zykan said, Cheshire Cat grin on his face

"I am not having this conversation with you." Damien said, glaring at Zykan, who put his hands up in false defeat,

"hey, I tell it like I see it."

"Well, someone should gouge your eyes out."

"Look, dude, getting back to you and your shit love-life." Damien growled and glared, "cool it, pal. You've gotta have something resembling this talk with someone at some point, and would you rather it be Miko or maybe Skayr?" Damien shuddered, shaking his head, "then shut up and lemme talk. Ok, about the Vampire," unknown to them, Azuril twitched at that,

I'll shoot him... 

"you know all that shit she's dishing out to ya's just foreplay, right?" Azuril blanched, did a double-take, then started checking the ammo in her gun,

he will die, slowly and painfully. 'Foreplay' my ass. If I want something I walk up to it, shoot its current owner, and take it, no fuckin foreplay. 

"what?" Damien said, sounding completely unconvinced. Zykan was still grinning like the Cheshire Cat, "What the hell do you mean 'foreplay'? You know her, she goes for the direct approach. Azuril sees, Azuril likes, Azuril shoots owner of wanted item, Azuril takes item. No foreplay there. Besides, like I said earlier, I don't think it'd work anyway."

"Oh? And why's that, Romeo?"

"I told you already, I think she is a danger prone, confusing, manic-depressive-"

how did he know that? 

"-and completely un-controllable and un-predictable Vampire."

He's dead too. 

"again, foreplay. She just needs to get laid." Damien tripped over his own feet and fell over at that, Azuril sat on her gun to avoid and conquer the odd urge to use it she was having.

"What!" Damien cried as he staggered to his feet.

"You heard me. Flat out, man. She just needs, at the least, ten minutes alone in and alley with some guy."

must...resist...urge...to kill... 

"Jesusrich, man! You are a freak!" Damien cried, staring bug-eyed at Zykan, who looked quite non-challaunt about it all, though his composure faltered when he got a look at the expression on Damien's face.

"Why yes I am. And, if it's freaking you out that bad, dude, you need to get laid too."

"I swear it, two more words about that and I'll-"

"you'll what with a face the same color as a tomato? I highly doubt you'd be concentrating on killing me. More like, trying to hide from the Vampire."

losing...battle...to not...kill... 

"that was a _nightmare_ that damn scene a while ago, and now you're laughing at me about it!-Again!"

"Um...yeah. Yeah, I am." Zykan said, clearly trying not to laugh. He twirled his scythe around like a kendo stick, then leaned against it, "ok, the closing statement of our little talk, Tomato Boy, is that you need to shack-up the Vampire. And fast. You'll lose your nerve if you wait too long...and too many more incidents like that first one and you may lose something besides your nerve." then he jumped back a few feet when Damien dove at him, continuing the chase for a while, then getting bored with it, tripping Damien with his scythe, then walking away, "just do it and get it over with, or pop into a strip joint..." were his parting words. Damien sat on the ground swearing for a minute, then looked up, confused, when he heard a kitten's mew, Azuril was coached down in front of him, Pardoner managing to climb up onto her head and look at Damien from his perch.

"Hi." he said, mentally praying that she'd at least give him a five second head start before she started shooting at him.

"Hi." she said, Pardoner mewed again,

"you found the cat."

"His name is Pardoner."

"'Pardoner'?"

"Yes. Far back, in the thirteen, fourteen and sixteen, even nineteen hundreds, there was a plague that swept over most of, what I would call, one third of the planet. It killed slowly. Black or purplish sores appeared, mainly, only to see how you will react, in the armpits and groin." she had to pause to hold back a small laugh at the slightly green tint his skin had taken on as he made an odd face at that thought, "puss and blood were very easy to find as well, that's partially where the technique of blood-letting was used. While the body was eaten away on the outside, the disease took its tole on the innards as well. We won't go into that area. Fleas and rats spread it, then anyone you came into contact with, during or after the incubation period, forming of, the disease, might infect you. The disease destroyed several nations throughout very early history. The strange black sores are where they got the name and nick-name for the plague. The sores came to be known as buboes, thus the name became 'bubonic plague. The color of the sores gave it one of the most infamous names if that time. It was called the Black Death."

"Um, ok, ew." Miko said as she and Annakhin joined in the conversation, "Damien what exactly did we walk in on?"

"One of the most disgusting things I've heard yet...and I've heard a lot, believe you me." Zykan said. Azuril twitched, beating down the urge to throttle him.

"Well, I asked why she named the cat-"

"you named him?" Annakhin said, looking at Azuril, who still had Pardoner on her head,

"yes. I did." she said, Pardoner mewed, as though backing her statement.

"Well, what did you name him that ended out leading to that weird blah?" Miko said, Bobby and Skayr were joining them now,

"hey, she's up, so's the cat." Bobby said, Skayr nodded,

"he seems to like her well enough. Have you named him?"

"Yeah, she did we're just waiting to hear what she named him." Zykan said, Damien shook his head,

"don't ask her to repeat her story, and the cat's name is Pardoner." he said.

"'Pardoner'?" Annakhin mirrored,

"Why?" Miko said,

"it's a long story that I will cut short-"

"oh, sure leave them their appetites, I've lost mine!" Zykan said, Bobby gave him an odd look,

"I eat all your food anyway, why are you bitching?" she said. Skayr knocked her lightly on the back of the head, "ow! Oh, Azuril."

"Yes, well. I will cut the story short, in the past, there was a plague that wiped out about one third of the planet, and in some areas, while the sick waited to die, they wished to have a priest pray for them and pardon their sins, but the priests weren't going near the ill, for reasons I will not repeat, but mainly because any type of contact with anything carrying the disease would spell out your own death, the priests sent out people from the churches to walk through the streets to each of the ill who begged for pardons and pray for them. Because of that they were called Pardoners. Pardoner and I have our reasons for his name, but it comes from someone who forgives sin. Now, since we are speaking of pardons, have the dead here been gathered? And are you sure all of the bodies are there?" she was seemingly quizzing them right away after a rather grisly and dark story about the past, walking away as though the past was nothing to her.

"Yes. We gathered the bodies. We laid them out and we were going to start digging a grave for them-" Skayr started, Azuril interrupted,

"a mass grave? No identification or memorial for each of them separately?" she asked, she'd put her cape back on before going over to Damien and, now that she was facing the remains of the town, looking sadly at the corpses she'd blamed herself for killing, they were reminded somewhat of her story, something dark that wiped out many people, someone who would give people hope with their pardons, both in one in front of a mass of victims of the darker half, "no. even if I must do it myself, no mass grave will be made for them. They deserve to be buried each with their own names, not melded with many others. My way of begging for their pardoning of my sins." the lighter half of what stood before them.

"She is the same thing she told us about." Zykan said, Miko and Bobby nodded,

"a saint and a sinner." Skayr commented, Annakhin gave a tiny nod, Damien finally stood up,

"alright. Let's get digging. We have a lot of work cut out for us." he said.

"Wait," Bobby said, "now that I'm on a roll, lemme do it!" she said, then she clapped her hands together, then slammed them, palms down, onto the dirt, the ground shook the slightest bit and the bodies slowly sunk into holes that had taken far too much work to properly organize. "There we go."

"Wait!" Azuril said suddenly, "let me go through and see them all first. I must be sure of something."

"Whatever floats your boat." Bobby said with a shrug. Azuril walked slowly up and down each row of open graves, becoming more and more frustrated as she went on. Annakhin, meanwhile, looked back at the tree Azuril and Pardoner had been under, noticing something lying there. She walked over and picked it up, becoming very confused at it,

"what is this?" she muttered, then she walked back over by the rest of the group, holding out the object Azuril had been clinging to the entire time they'd been at the town. "What do you think it's for?" it was an old, tattered cloth, made of the same material a baby's blanket might be made from, a soft, sort of stuffed animal like rabbit head was at the top, made like a baby's toy,

"It's a...bunny...rag thingy?" Bobby tried. Then possibly the loudest noise they'd heard since they got there occurred, Azuril let out a horrified shriek,

"Don't touch it!" she screamed, practically diving on Annakhin, Zykan catching Pardoner as he pulled a suicide jump off of Azuril's head before she dove at Annakhin. The smaller girl staggered back, looking rattled,

"Azuril, what the hell was that about!" Bobby snapped, then she blinked a bit in confusion, everyone staring as she just sat still on the ground, holding the tattered cloth tightly to her, giving them a slightly possessive glare,

"don't touch it..." she said in a small voice. Pardoner wriggled free from Zykan's hold, running over to Azuril, pawing at her until she sat with her legs crossed so he could crawl onto her lap and curl up there. He started purring right away, seemingly calming her down with the sound, she sighed and started to pet him, still holding the cloth to her as though it was vital to her living.

"I think I speak for all of us here when I say 'what the hell just happened'?" Zykan said,

"That is a good question." Damien said. Everyone jumped when Azuril spoke again,

"my apologies, all of you. I...you wouldn't...understand...Bobby, I didn't find what I was looking for. You may finish what you started." she said, scooping Pardoner up gently and carrying him back over to the tree she'd originally been under, she put him down, unbuckled her cape and folded it up, sitting cross-legged on the grass, putting her cape on her lap and Pardoner on top of her cape, giving him something softer to lay on than just her legs. She started petting him, still gripping the cloth tightly.

"What's so special about that thing?" Miko said, Damien shrugged,

"you guys finish the graves, I'll go take to her." he said, then he turned around and flipped Zykan off when he felt the trickster jab him in the back with his scythe, "prick!" then he stormed away, Zykan cackling evilly. "Jackass." then he stopped in front of Azuril, "hi."

"Hi." she didn't acknowledge him beyond that though. Pardoner lifted his gaze and made a small mew, most likely his recognition of Damien's presence.

"So, what is that thing?"

"Nothing you need to be concerned about."

"Azuril, I'm sorry, for whatever it is that's happened to you now. I've lost things too because of Angela. I'd been in love with her. But, you weren't ever in that boat with anyone, were you?"

"Oh, no, how could I have been? I'm just a manic-depressive vampire who desperately needs to get laid." Damien cringed,

"so, you heard that all, huh?"

"Loud and clear."

"Uhh...I um...you see I-"

"forget it."

"What?" he said, confused now,

"You were right earlier, Damien. We would not fit together, it wasn't meant to be, whether you or anyone else thinks so or not. We were meant to join up, kill Angela and part ways with no questions asked, not fall in love with one another and let emotions get in our way. I cannot let that happen, I want this done quickly. I cannot afford to lose that goal just because I love someone. I'm doing this to avenge those that I loved, that is all. I shouldn't have strayed from that path at all. I am sorry to have led you on, Damien. I will not do so again."

"But, what would those you loved say? Would they say 'make yourself miserable while you have the chance to change it all'?" Damien asked, kneeling down next to her, "would they want you to be this torn up?" she shook her head,

"no. no, they would not. But if they were in my place, I know they would feel the same things I am. And I know they would blame themselves, just as I do myself."

"Why blame yourself for something you had no control over?"

"Because I should have stopped her sooner. Angela took my friends first, and she knew the effect it would have on me. I still can't fill that empty spot where they once were. Therefore, I will try to fill it with all of the sins I have piled on my shoulders, and then try to empty it again."

"You're trying to make yourself this sad, just so you can feel a little better every time we do something right?"

"If that's the way you wish to put it then fine. That is what I am doing." she watched Pardoner sleep for a moment, then closed her eyes, "now, ironically, I have someone to help pardon my sins as I attempt to repent. My cousin would be proud of me for mentioning so much about religion." then she noticed Damien looking at the cloth rabbit she held with her. "Does this interest you?" he snapped out of his odd stare,

"no, it's just...not something I expected you to be so touchy about."

"It...belonged to someone else. I finally have something to remind me of my time, of my life. I don't want to lose it. That is all."

"I'll tell the others to leave it alone then."

"Thank you, Damien."

"No, not another." Bobby said, they'd come across several demolished towns, all of them had something laying around that made Azuril spaz and dive at. So far, they had the cloth from the first town, a soccer jersey, which was burned and singed from the flames, the one before this one had a broken porcelain fairy, now, this village had nothing, that sent Damien, Bobby and Skayr running into the flames, Bobby's pyro-abilities coming in handy, searching frantically.

"How does she hide so well everywhere she goes?" Bobby said, Damien shrugged,

"who knows? Let's just find her." the search was short, she found them, clutching at her left arm,

"I'd forgotten...it's burning hot...I can't move it." she said, giving them a pitiful look, Bobby grabbed her by her right arm and yanked her closer to the group.

"You nut-case! What were you thinking!" she snapped, Azuril looked away from her,

"there's nothing here...all of the people are dead as well...this is a recent attack, we just early missed whoever did it." she said, using the emotionless voice she normally did.

"Let's go." Skayr said, pushing Bobby lightly. When they returned to Miko, Zykan and Annakhin, they allowed Azuril to fall to her knees, still having trouble with avoiding burning herself with her own arm, she was breathing in sharp gasps now, looking both relieved and worried,

"nothing was there. Is that...can that mean-or maybe it's..." Pardoner jumped out of Annakhin's arms and ran over to Azuril, nudging her leg with his head, she started petting him, still trying to keep her left arm away from her, and now Pardoner. "You may have to forgive me yet again, my friend." she said, they figured she was speaking to Pardoner, who she talked to and spent time with the most. Bobby clapped her hands together, put her hands against the grass, and waited for a second, then the dirt under the burning village shook like waves on the ocean, then finally, the village sunk into the dirt, leaving nothing there.

"Sorry, but we can't take time to put the bodies of the dead in their own marked holes." she said, "Zykan, can you help Azuril with her arm before she accidently fries the cat?"

"Sure, why the hell not?" he said, shrugging as he walked over to Azuril, then he pointed his scythe at her and a shower of water fell on her, "oop. Overkill-eep!" Azuril was standing up slowly, Pardoner running away from the wet ground, hissing and shaking the water off of himself as best he could, "Five second head start?"

"Two."

"Kyay." Zykan made a break for it, Azuril letting off some pent up frustration, shooting at him finally giving up on long range, chasing him, shooting at him more.

"Should we stop them?" Miko said, Skayr shook her head,

"no, let her blow off some steam."

"Or Zykan's head." Miko added,

"yes. That as well." Skayr grinned, then Bobby whacked them both with her boomerang.

"Can it. This is too good, I want to cherish every second." she said, Annakhin looked at Miko and Skayr,

"It's probably just their special way of showing each other they care." she said,

"y'think so?" Damien said, watching Azuril pause, reload, then run after Zykan again, "she'll try to kill him by hand when she fully realizes it was her chasing him that emptied her ammo."

"I'm glad they don't care about me that much." Miko said in a somewhat shaky voice, the rest of the group nodded their agreement. It was the ground shaking that ended the chase, everyone watched the spot where the village had been, waiting for something to pop up, suddenly, Skayr's eyes widened,

"Zykan, Azuril, get away, fast!" she yelled, but not quite fast enough for them to get the warning and they were thrown in two different directions when a beam if light, and a huge explosion blew away the ground beneath them.

"Ow, fuck! My head...!" Zykan growled as he sat up, looking around for his scythe, "shit, where'd it go!" he said frantically, crawling around as he looked for it.

Azuril moaned softly form the pain in her head,

"what happened? Where is-my gun! Where did my gun land!" she crawled around looking for it, but came up dry. "Where did it land, where?"

Zykan finally spotted his scythe, starting to stand up to go grab it, but a gun pointed at his face made him back down,

"what the hell? Who are you? I know I find myself in this position frequently but, now seems more dangerous. What are you?"

"Good guess, 'what' that is." Zykan did a double-take,

hold up, that was a girl's voice, where'd this weird fog come from, any way? Dust and dirt from the explosion should have cleared up by now...what is this? And, why did that voice sound really young? he thought, a series of mixed expressions passing over his face, "let the fog clear, I want to see your face." he said carefully, hoping she wouldn't shoot him, when the fog started clearing he started to get a better look at her, then he stopped moving, "you're just a----"

Azuril froze, the odd sheet of fog was thinning,

"what in the...?" then she saw the rest of the group, sans Zykan, heading towards her,

"are you ok? Are you hurt?" Bobby said,

"what was that?"

"What happened?"

"Where's Zykan?"

"I don't know." she said, swatting them away from her, she never did like people invading her bubble. "I don't know where he is, or my gun, or what happened or why it happened or-" she froze up, all color draining from her face in record time, eyes wide, she was shaking looked like she was about to fall over comatose,

"Azuril?" Annakhin said quietly, Azuril took a few small steps forward,

"oh, God, no..." she whispered, "no, it's not real...it's a lie..." she took a few more steps towards whatever it was that had her mortified like that.

"Azuril, what's wrong with you-huh?" Bobby started, looking in the same direction as Azuril, "Zykan!" now everyone was paying attention, "who is that?" Zykan managed to hear his name and looked at the group, clearly begging for his life. The girl looked up as well, Azuril froze completely, unable to move, think and for a why breathe.

"She's just a kid." Damien said, the girl had dark blond hair and dark blue eyes, she wore an all black outfit, long cape-like coat, black glove, boots that went up only slightly past her ankles, and pants that were tight to her body, low rising and complete with a strange yet fancy looking belt, the front of her outfit was open, nothing but the coat, in other words, but two black straps crossed over each other tightly, holding it closed. Oddly enough, she reminded them of someone, vaguely so, but she did.

"Where did she come from? How'd she get Azuril's gun?" Miko said, Azuril was shaking harder, close to having a break-down,

"who is she?" Bobby said, Skayr and Annakhin noticed Azuril's shaking fit, she'd started hugging herself tightly in hopes of making it stop, her mind was starting to go into shock.

"Azuril!" Annakhin cried as the girl staggered back a bit, then her legs caved underneath her. Skayr making a hasty catch, holding the, still panicking, girl upright,

"calm yourself. What is it? Do you know her?" Skayr said quietly, Azuril early managed to nod, "who is she?" Azuril opened her mouth to talk, but no words came out, even when she tried to scream, no sound was heard, "dammit!" Skayr hissed, giving Bobby a kick on her ass, her hands occupied by holding Azuril steady. Bobby turned around, ready to have a swearing match, but bugged up instead.

"Damien, she's going into shock! Damien!" she cried, Damien ran over to them,

"Bobby, you go back to the front, Annakhin, help me with her." Damien said, lowering himself to the ground, taking Azuril with him, holding her upright, "ok, what the hell am I supposed to do!"

"Keep her aware of the world around her. She needs to stay at least a little focused if we're going to keep her awake." Annakhin said.

"Ok. What do we do to do that?"

"We could just talk to her." suddenly, Pardoner made his entrance from his hiding spot behind a large rock a little ways behind the group, he jumped into her lap, pawing at her hand, "I think she's gone."

"No!" Damien snapped, "I won't believe it. I wouldn't believe it if it was any of you. She's not gone." he said, "she's just wandering. Where ever you are, Azuril, get back to where you should be. Come on. At least move a tiny bit. Please."

"Azuril, you need to wake up! You have to!" Annakhin cried, getting truly frightened for her friend, "you can't leave us all here alone. What about everything you've gone through so far! Enduring and conquering all of this torture. Did you will yourself on for nothing! What about your family! Your friends!" there was a small moment of relief when she blinked her eyes several times, "come on, keep going. We're waiting for you. You're not all alone! Come on!" her hand moved,

"hey, how's she doing?" Bobby called back, "we're at a stand off here, we move, she pulls the trigger, she moves, we go after her, then she pulls the trigger. Please, tell me you have some good news."

"We do! She waking up! She's coming out of it!" Annakhin said, Skayr smirked over her shoulder,

"I knew we couldn't be rid of her so easily."

"What happened?" Miko asked,

"Azuril caught one look at that girl and went into shock. Apparently, Damien and Annakhin are doing a quit job of waking her up." she said quickly, holding her boomerang tightly, ready to throw it if the opportunity presented itself, Skayr cracked her knuckle, crouching slightly as prepared to bolt at the girl if needed, Miko's fists were up and she looked ready to go. Azuril let out a small whine, shaking her head slowly,

"what...happened?" she muttered, looking from Damien to Annakhin, then back again.

"We made a new friend and you didn't like her." Damien said,

"what-?"

"'Azuril'? That's what your name is now?" came the girl's voice, all eyes were on here, "stand up." she snapped at Zykan, who glared death at her, but stood nonetheless, she grabbed the leather band around his neck by the tails and yanked him in front of her, "I figured your name would be a little more creative, knowing you, that is." she continued, making Zykan gag when she yanked on the band, then pushed the gun up under his chin.

"Zykan!" Annakhin cried,

"y'know, you can rescue me at any point in the near future. Don't wait for an invitation." another sharp yank,

"shut up."

"I like you, and I despise you at the same time." Miko said, "now, let him go, I'm the only one that gets to raz on him like that!"

"You want him, you come and take him."

"Shit. Now I'm an official meat-shield-ack!"

"I said shut up."

"Well, we'll just have to pay you a visit then, won't we?" Skayr said, Bobby shook her head,

"I like inviting my guests over to my place, so, come on, boomerang effect!" she said, throwing her boomerang, more shocks for the group,

"No!" Azuril cried, grabbing Damien's sword and throwing it like an over sized throwing knife, watching it tangle with the boomerang and send both of them to the ground.

"What the hell'd you do that for!" Damien cried,

"don't hurt her!"

"Why not?" Bobby snapped,

"wow, the blood-ties do matter after all." the girl said, smirking, "why don't you tell them who I am, _Azuril_?" she said the name mockingly, as though it were fake. Azuril looked around the group, then she looked away looking at the two weapons she'd crippled from their owners' reach..

"Stop it. Leave them alone." She said quietly, "if _she_ sent you, then it was to torment me, not involve them."

"Then all of those deaths I left behind for you all were wasted on only you?" she girl said, fake sugary-sweet. Azuril's eyes widened and, for a second, they thought she'd relapse,

"you spilled blood?" she said, just above a whisper,

"and I'll spill more," she paused to jab Zykan harder with the gun, he made a small gaging noise, "if you don't tell them what I want to hear." Azuril shook her head,

"I will not utter a word of it until he let go and returned to us, alive and in tact." the girl smirked,

"you watched too much TV." she said, shoving Zykan forward, he staggered a bit, then disappeared, startling the girl, "what-?" she looked back at the group Azuril stood by, finding Zykan over by them, screaming at the other boy in the group to let go of him so he could get his scythe and chop her to bits. Then she watched with some amusement when the smallest member of the group yelled 'down' and he hit the dirt face first. "You belong together" she commented, Azuril scoffed,

"at least I have somewhere I seem to belong. If you are here under Angela's orders, you have nowhere to go. I find that much sadder than my lies." she said, "return my gun, and Zykan's scythe. This is no different than when we were at home. You even know who I am, please, don't make this difficult." everyone was watching silently, none of them could figure it out.

"Who is she?" Miko asked, Damien shrugged,

"hell if I know."

"Please. I don't want this. If I'd known this was going to happen, I would have killed myself ahead of time. Don't make this hard. Give me back the weapons. We won't attack you, if that's what's got you worried-"

"I'm not worried. I'm waiting. I gave you your freaky friend back, and now I want to hear my end of this."

"As you wish." Azuril said, turning to look at the group in front of her, picking up Pardoner and holding him, "I am not who I said I was. I have a different name, my birth name. My name is Katherine. Katherine Fiore. When I went into that box, I was only seventeen, somehow, she changed my age, appearance, name and a whole of what I am."

"Why didn't you just tell us all that before? It wouldn't have changed anything?" Miko said,

"There is, in a way, more. In my time, this entire world, even our quest for revenge, mirrors a game, even all of you mimic the characters. I've played the game many times through. I know all of the steps, necessary and unnecessary. And I watched as those exact same things happened right before my eyes, afraid that, if I spoke up, she would change it, and we would be in even more danger."

"Well put." the girl said, "now, tell them about us."

"What does she mean?" Skayr said,

"she is referring to the fact that we are blood sisters."complete silence followed, finally, Azuril broke the silent, "you have what you want, Clare. Now, go. Please."

"For now, dear sister. For now." she said, vanishing in a swirl of smoke. "Remember, 'as you wish' means 'I love you'."

"You may hate me now." Azuril said, as though telling them that it was proper to do so at that moment. Pardoner nudged her hand, she started petting him, then sat on her feet, not wanting him to go flying off to some random direction if someone hit her.

"Why?" Damien said, "you could've-should've told us."

"I was not aware of her presence here. I am learning these things at the same time as you."

"So, your sister, direct blood relation, not step or adopted or something, is on Angela's side?" Miko said, Azuril didn't move, or dignify her.

"Who did she represent in the game?" Annakhin asked,

"the main villain, only in the game, the villain was male, and in his late twenties, not female and in her early teens."

"And the rest of us?" Zykan said hoarsely, rubbing his throat, "little bitch, I swear it, I'll kick her ass."

"Zykan, you moron, she's Azuril's sister, watch it!" Damien said, Azuril shook her head,

"her body is my sister's, some of her mind is still my sister's, but the rest is nothing but darkness. I cannot let her hinder me."

"Even if you have to kill her?" Damien said, Azuril was silent, then,

"I do not know. I am not sure of anything anymore. I closed my eyes for what seemed like a second, opened them to catch a brief glimpse of Hell, closed them and opened them again here. I'm waiting for my eyes to open back in my own time, my own place, some place where no one had been forced to play this game. But I keep opening them to the same thing, something that has come to be known to me as a far too real nightmare." Pardoner purred loudly, getting her attention, she continued petting him, "but since I cannot wake from this nightmare, I will play it out until the end. I will rescue what she has taken from me, and I will make certain she suffers as much as all of the 'players' who didn't make it through to the end must have."

"You're pretty damned determined, aren't you?" Damien said, hands on hips, small grin on his face, "you really think you can pull all that off?"

"If I must live off of false hope, then, yes, I do. Allow me my pathetic hope." she said, smiling as Pardoner rolled onto his back and batted at her hand, the little game continued while the conversation did.

"You know you can't do it alone. But, stay here, with your game cast, and we'll see it through to the end." Damien said, trying not to smirk at the childish look on Azuril's face while she played with Pardoner. she's a different person when she's found something that makes her smile... he was suddenly jabbed in the back, he glared over his shoulder at a smirking Zykan, "shut up before you speak up, freak-job."

"I'm hurt."

"Good." he then turned back to Azuril, who was now attempting to remove her hair from Pardoner's grasp, she looked annoyed, but not enough so to make her look like her normal self. "Having problems?"

"Damien, I do have my gun back."

"I'm joking." he said, everyone was dispersing, Skayr curled up on the large rock Pardoner had been hiding behind when Azuril's sister showed up, Bobby leaned against said rock, tending to her boomerang, Azuril had managed to give it a clean, light, cut down the middle.

"That woman's a menace." she mumbled,

"yes, but, you try convincing Damien to get rid of her. He's far too gone to come back where she is concerned."

"Yeah, yeah, Lover Boy just better not get us killed because he's screwing up his own love life."

"What about Damien's love life?" Miko said as she walked over to them, Zykan and Annakhin could be seen by the tree that had been used for shade for their entire time being in the village that Bobby had the ground devour, Zykan jumped up onto a branch, jabbed his scythe into the side of the tree and relaxed back on the branch, dozing off. Annakhin was sitting under the tree, mulling over everything she'd heard, straightening it out as best as the tid-bits she was finding would allow.

"He has none." Skayr and Bobby said in unison. Miko blinked a bit,

"ok, never do that again. And, what do you mean he 'doesn't have one'?"

"The poor kid's got no girlfriend." Bobby said,

"that doesn't mean he has no love life." Miko argued, Skayr pointed out the next argument, it was sitting next to Damien, trying to pull a cat out of its hair.

"There's Romeo and his desired Juliet. Tell me how well his love life will go if she is the one he wants." she said, Miko sagged visibly,

"I know. I know he wants her, but..."

"But you still can't help but be jealous of her, right?" Bobby said, then she pointed at Miko with the tool she was using for sanding the surface of her boomerang, "listen to me, kid, when you get involved with the opposite sex, you're only asking for trouble." she said, Skayr smirked,

"she only says that because she's never had a date."

"Oh, and you have!" Bobby snapped, Skayr answered her with a yawn.

"You two are no help." Miko said, "just because you're older than me doesn't mean you're wiser I guess." then she paled and shrank in fear,

"What!" Bobby snapped,

"Old!" Skayr put in,

"I am not old, nor am I not wise!" Bobby informed Miko, Skayr cracked her knuckles,

"I'll show you what these old bones can do, you brat!" and she was off after Miko, Bobby running after them. Zykan fell off of the branch he had perched on, clutching his sides and laughing hysterically, he planned on never letting Miko live this down.

"Zykan," Annakhin started, he stopped laughing right away, sitting up and waiting to see if there was more to that, "what characters do you think we represent in her game? And, if she knows what's going to happen, even if it's altered before she can figure it out, why would she hide it from us?"

"Maybe she was watching to make sure she could pull us out at the most dangerous moments, figuring we'd be fine otherwise."

"Maybe...I still want to know who we are."

"so, in the game, I'm the main character? And he's on basically the same hell-bent quest as me?" Damien said, Azuril nodded, she'd finally gotten Pardoner away from her hair and was now watching him chase a long piece of grass she pulled off of the ground and dangled in front of him.

"Yes. Miko is the childhood friend of the main character, she also has some romantic interest in him, she's also on the same quest as him."

"Whoa, deja vu."

"Yes. There is a pilot who works with mechanics, and things of that sort, Bobby is the one he represents, though he was not an alchemist and he did not set everything around him aflame."

"That sounds partially like Bobby."

"Skayr represents either one of two people, or a combination of them. Another pair of characters with grudges to settle. Whereas she speaks and acts like the better of the two characters, she is strong yet kind like the other is. Zykan, I cannot be sure. He is in the same predicament as Skayr. There is a trickster and betrayer that he resembles, but there is also an energetic, agitating ninja with sticky fingers and the same attitude as Zykan's that he also resembles."

"And you and Annakhin?" Damien said, ignoring the sight of Miko being chased by Bobby and Skayr.

"I am a character whose story is a mirror of my own. He loved someone who did not love him back, she volunteered her unborn child as the test subject for an experiment. He thought that was appalling and tried to step in, getting himself nearly killed, early alive I mean, he, like myself, was experimented on, put into a state of suspended animation and left in a coffin, in a crypt next to the lab that he knew all too well. When he finally, after much argument and persuading, joined the group, that is where he gets interesting. He is beyond excellent with a gun, and transforms into several different creatures when upset or beaten, both to an extremely high degree. He was poetic and knowledgeable in many ways, and he held his own, even through all of that."

"Wow, from what you've told us about him, and yourself, you are his female clone." Damien said, "and Annakhin?" Azuril froze up, "Azuril?"

"No one. She has no resemblance to any of the characters at all." she said, picking up Pardoner, allowing him to play with her hair. Damien didn't buy the excuse,

"who does she resemble, Azuril? And why are you so hesitant?"

"She has no relation to anyone in the game, Damien. That is all there is to it." she didn't want to tell him that one of his friends was the mirror of a girl that is killed while saving all of them. Then she found a scapegoat. "A flower girl. She is the mirror of a flower girl." she said, in the beginning of the game, Aeris was a flower girl. Why didn't I remember that sooner! she mentally chided herself. Damien looked confused,

"a flower girl? She looks like a flower girl? That's it?" he said, Azuril nodded,

"a flower girl." then she winced and decided Pardoner had had his fun yanking her hair, it was time to put him back on the grass.

"Who does Angela represent?" Damien asked suddenly, sounding curious and cautious, Azuril spared him a side glance as she tried to untangle her hair, to free Pardoner's paw.

"Several different people. She resembles a group of people, a corporation, that some members of our group dislike, she partly represents the villain my sister is playing the part of, and she partly represents the scientist that experimented on many things and creatures. Myself and Skayr's character are the two that are most prominent. This scientist also created my sister's character. Injecting and mixing different things into the child of the woman my role loved, this all before the child was born."

"So, he was saving himself sometime and, instead of experimenting on the kid the same way he did you, he did it before the kid was born?"

"No, Damien. He wanted something else to come of that child. Between your character, mine, and my sister's, one thing is the same, we all have a certain type of energy in our veins, making us somehow the same, but very different. The child was the third of the three 'Advent Children' in the game."

"So, my character was injected with the same chemical or whatever as your's and your sister's? Then why are we all so different in the game?"

"One chemical does not destroy what one is, it only adds to the many things that make you who you are. But, yes, you are right, the three of them were extremely different, and not just in personality and appearance, they had different levels of humanity inside them. Your character, though there were questions raised later in the game, was the most human of the three, he reacted the least to the chemical, for lack of better word, for my character, the results of the experiments and the chemical melded in a way, this is speculation on my part, though, that made him stronger as well. As for my sister...her character was never given the chance to be human. The same chemical was used on him, along with another, new and more powerful, force, he was born with nothing human about him, save his physical appearance. He was raised as a human, had no idea of what he was, he then found out what had been done to create him, what they had taken bits and pieces of to put inside him, he went mad, giving your character enough hatred and drive to hunt for him endlessly."

"Shit, that's extreme. Then what? What happens in the end?"

"Good, as always in these types of stories, prevails and the villain is killed, thus saving everyone and everything from certain destruction."

"So, that would mean my character kills your sister's character? Wouldn't it?" Damien said softly, Azuril nodded. "I...I shouldn't say I'm sorry for that, it won't be enough. And you don't want pity, sympathy, or anything of that sort. But, I still wish this was over."

"I know. I wish that too. I wish that I was asleep again, that I'd saved the things I care about from her and just gone back to sleep."

"So, that's your plan for after all this? Go back to that coffin? Sleep for eternity?"

"Yes."

"And if we can save your little sister, will you leave her? I can't imagine you would." Azuril lowered her gaze,

"no, I would not-could not leave Clare in this place all alone. You win again, Damien. I may have to continue to live. At the very least, for her sake." Damien then noticed Azuril had the cloth they'd found a while back out and laid on her lap.

"That was her's, wasn't it?" Azuril nodded, "so was the shirt, and the fairy, right?"

"Yes. The shirt was her's for when she played soccer, her team's uniform. The fairy was a present from my mother and me. This," she held up the cloth, "she had for thirteen years, I knew and saw her after thirteen years with her."

"Her entire life, as far as you know?"

"Yes. I..." she pulled away from Damien, looking away, "I am her older sister. I was supposed to protect her, not drag her into something like this. Not turn her into a monster. I was supposed to make sure this sort of thing never happened, not even in her nightmares. She is another person I could not protect. The one person I should have protected above all others. Pardoner has his work laid out before him. I hope he makes it through."

"It doesn't take a pardoner to tell you your sins are forgiven, it takes you understanding it yourself. If you don't get it, it doesn't matter how many times you're pardoned, you'll still be guilty. Forgive yourself before you ask others to do so."

"Damien, you are poetic and bold. I think that is why I enjoy your presence. Thank you, again." Azuril said, turning to look at him again, "you make it sound much easier than it is, and that give me some hope. I pray you're right and I can rescue my sister. And any others she has with her. I also hope you get your revenge. you deserve it."

"Thanks. You're pretty poetic too, when you want to be."

"Thank you, again."

"She's been like this for a couple weeks, not even Bobby can get her to do anything." Miko said, watching Bobby talking to Azuril, most likely the same simple, little things she always used, hoping for a response. Damien was talking with Annakhin about something they couldn't quite hear,

"She relapsed, part of her brain froze. Damien and Bobby are trying their damnedest to keep her walking, moving and, somehow, eating, Annakhin has her bag of snakes spread out in front of her, since she's the one trying to un-freeze Azuril's brain." Zykan said, Skayr joined the pair,

"I don't blame her. We did see her sister several more times, the brat also said some things that, I guess, were from Azuril's past life. I might end out like her too if that happened enough."

"Like a vegetable?" Zykan said, Skayr gave him a look and he backed away a bit, "just asking."

"I wonder if they've at least come somewhat closer to snapping her out of it." Miko said,

"why not just beam her on the head a couple times, jar things into motion." Skayr said,

"because Bobby would kill you." Miko said, at the exact same second, Zykan spoke as well,

"because Damien would kill you." then the pair stopped talking, blinked a bit, looked behind Skayr at each other, then righted themselves, "that was weird."

"Yeah." Miko said, then she turned around and walked away rather quickly, Zykan made his way to the nearest tree, jumped onto one of the branches, jabbed his scythe into the side of the tree and dozed off.

"What the hell did I do to deserve them?" Skayr moaned, hiding her face behind her hands, then she let her hands fall away from her face and walked over to a large rock nearby, jumped up onto it, curled up, yawned and started to doze. Miko leaned against the rock Skayr was on, half asleep herself, finally, she was out.

"Well, our biggest breakthrough for today is that she twitched when I called her Vampire Girl-"

twitch

"see?"

"She hates that nickname even when she can't truly understand or hear it." Damien said, "that would be kinda cool, if I wasn't talking about a friend."

"Yeah. Let's get her back by the others, and the cat." Bobby said, helping Damien lift Azuril off the ground.

"They're all asleep." Annakhin said, first pointing to Skayr, then Miko, then Zykan.

"Well, we'll be quiet, then." Damien said, laying Azuril down, Pardoner curling up next to her right away, "whoa! Hey, check it out." Damien said, Bobby and Annakhin turned to look quickly, "she moved, a little." Azuril had started towards Pardoner, but obviously, after a second or so, she was gone again.

"Do you think her mind is still going through its normal routine? Like she can hear us or something like that?" Bobby said, Annakhin shook her head,

"we'd have gotten at least a true movement by now if she was still with us like that." she said. They watched Azuril for a second, nothing,

"I don't know why I expected her to move just now. But, I wish she had." Damien said, Bobby lowered her gaze, fixing it on the ground,

"maybe she really is gone for good. Some place we can't reach her. She's still breathing and all of that stuff, but her mind is off somewhere past the boarders of La La Land. We could be wasting time and energy on the impossible." she decided not to look up when she could practically feel Damien's glare burning through her. Annakhin looked at Damien with a pity filled expression on her face,

"Damien, I'm sorry, but, part of me says she's right. And it gets bigger and bigger everyday."

"Well, that's nice, you think that, then. But it'll do you jack-shit since she's staying, I won't leave her like this." Damien said, taking a seat next to Pardoner, "you leave if you want, I'll either catch up when she's back to her normal self, or if I've buried her."

"Damien, I know you care about her, but this is somewhat ridiculous. We should have left her at a hospice a while ago. They would take care of her." Bobby said,

"and what about when they wonder if it's alright to pull the plug on her and we aren't there to tell them not to? Then what?" Damien argued, Bobby paused to think of a response.

"_Wasn't that name of yours a character you made up somewhere? I do believe I've heard it somewhere before."_

"_Clare...don't. You don't know what happened at all-"_

"_Don't I?" Azuril dove off to the side as her sister landed a punch hard enough to send huge pieces of dirt and rocks flying everywhere, making everyone scatter. Azuril slid to a stop on the rain-soaked dirt road they were walking down when they were attacked, _

"_Damien!" she cried, looking around frantically for her friends, suddenly a huge piece of gravel and clay from the road hit her, she gave a strangled scream when she landed hard on her back, quickly trying to dig herself free,_

"_miss him already?" Clare teased cruelly, walking leisurely over to where her sister had finally crawled out from under the dirt and clay, coughing and taking deep breaths from getting the wind knocked out of her, then kept out of her for a short while, she struggled dizzily to her hands and knees, choking and finally coughing up some dirt and gravel then she went back to the frantic breathing,_

"_C-Clare, I don't" she choked again, "I don't understand–why?" she gave a weak cry when she was shoved back down onto her stomach on the ground, her sister's foot holding her there,_

"_because you were softer than me." by now, Damien and company had themselves unburied,_

"_what the-" Damien started, Zykan covered his mouth,_

"_you'll get her into even deeper shit if you freak out. Just shut up and bear it with the rest of us."_

"_Even back home, I was the one that got smacked around. And who did it? You." she put all of her weight on Azuril's back making her scream, Damien was tackled from behind at that. "See? Soft. And the excuses later...'it's the pills' 'I didn't know what I was doing' 'you shouldn't have pissed me off'. I love that last one. I heard it the most."_

"_So, you resorted to becoming something inhuman...just because of pent up hate for me?" Azuril said, "you willingly turned yourself into a monster? Something not worth anyone's time to even kill, just for a petty reason like hate?" a heel jabbed her rib-cage, she gave a tiny cry and fell silent,_

"_what else was there? Mom and dad weren't helping, you weren't letting up, nothing got better! I hated you! I hated the fact that, even if it was for the best, you got all of the attention when you ran away!" she dragged her sister off of the ground by her shirt collar, glaring at her as she tried to pry herself loose without using her left hand, "now suddenly you care about whether I get hurt or not? Now it's wrong to hurt me? If you hadn't hurt me before all this, I wouldn't be here!_

"_I-didn't—I didn't want it to be this way!" Azuril choked when the grip on her collar tightened, "I ran away to avoid this!-to keep this out of existence!" the grip didn't loosen, "I know I was a monster-even before all this! I hated myself for so long!"_

"_And you never tried to find out why! Or ask me how I felt!"_

"_I am sorry! I know what I was, and what I should have been. I took you for granted! Hurt you, taunted you, it seemed too far away to be any concern of mine. I-I let you down. I abandoned you, and I didn't think twice of it. I'm sorry! I wanted to tell you the night I ran away, to tell all of you, that I was sorry. But...but when I wanted to tell you I'd made all of those mistakes, let you down, and to ask for help, for forgiveness, I just turned my back. It still hurts. I'm still in pain and empty from it! Please, forgive at least a bit! Stop being the monster you were told you are!" she was thrown away from the other girl,_

"_you think that confession makes any difference? You still hurt me more than you can tell me you did in a million years! I should kill you right now!" Azuril stayed on the ground, not moving those words were more painful than anything else she'd experienced since she first woke up in a year one-thousand years from her home._

"_Whoa..." Zykan said, backing away from Damien absently, "she's serious, isn't she?"_

"_That's horrible." Annakhin said quietly,_

"_we can't just keep watching her get hurt, can we?" Bobby said, Skayr shook her head, but made no move to do anything_

"_I hate having to say this, but, if we try to help, it'll only bring her more pain. We can hate doing nothing as much as we want, as long as we stay where we are."_

"_I swear it, I'll kill that little brat-!"_

"_Damien, no!" Miko yanked him back, "are you deaf? We go out there, Azuril may just have another break-down. We need to stay here. I hate it too, but we have to."_

_By now, though, Azuril had passed out, with the words 'I should kill you right now' ringing in her ears_

"_oh, no, not this brat again!" Bobby said when Azuril's sister made her dramatic appearance of dropping in form seemingly nowhere, drop-kicking Zykan, who's swearing fit was cut short when the wind was knocked out of him and he started struggling to breathe,_

"_Zykan, get your ass away from her, stupid!" Miko cried, Zykan, still trying to breathe properly, scrambled back near where Miko and Annakhin stood, Skayr automatically dove at their new enemy, getting more and more frustrated when she couldn't catch her. Bobby threw her boomerang, but it was simply batted out of the air like a bug,_

"_shit."_

"_That was a new one." Miko said, Azuril was half hiding by a tree, attempting to remain unseen by her sister._

"_Oh, you're pathetic of you think that's gonna work." she heard her sister say, then she ducked when a long blade chopped through the tree_

_ a copy of the Masa Mune! she dove away from the blade as it was jabbed into the dirt where she'd been crouched in hiding a second ago. "Please, stop it!" she cried frantically, jumping away from her sister again, "I know, I hurt you, but what gives you the right to do all this!"_

"_The only permission I need is my own!" then the blade's next stroke was cut off by another sword. "What the hell!"_

"_Damien, don't! Get away from her!" Azuril shrieked,_

"_hey, everyone else got a shot at her, it's my turn." Damien said, Clare grinned,_

"_so, you're the new version of her friend Genevieve? Gotta say, you are pretty cute. Hey, if you back off now, I'll make it quick and painless." she looked over Damien's shoulder to where Azuril sat, Damien had shoved her back to block the blade from hitting her. She was now scrambling to her feet, _

"_Leave him out of this! Leave all of them out of it! Your hate is for me, don't involve others!"_

"_Is that your excuse for pleading for his life? You didn't react this way with the others."_

"_The situations for each of them were different. He is too close to you, let him be!"_

"_But he's so cute." Clare said mockingly, grinning wickedly at the enraged gleam in her sister's eyes, "ooh, jealousy is a good color for you. I'd wear more of it, sister." she shoved forward as hard as she could, forcing Damien off balance, Azuril ran for him when he fell back and hit the dirt,_

"_Damien...I told you to stay back. She will kill you if you fight that recklessly..." her sister's snickering made her look up, glaring, "I said to let them be. Not hurt them further. This is my fight. not their fight. Leave them be, please." she moved between her friends and her sister, "please, Clare...leave them alone." she said quietly, "hurt me, torture me, scar me as much as you want, but, please, don't lay a hand on them."_

"_Didn't think you'd care so much. After all, you did nearly lose them when we were back home. You were the one at fault there. You were the one who pushed them away. Maybe you're just not meant to have friends, sister dearest. The only friends that still care about you are people you've pushed away before as well, that and our dogs." Azuril bit her bottom lip, trying to block out the words she was hearing, "you pushed your friends away, you pushed your family away, you pushed the world away. Who do you think missed you? How many people do you think mourned your loss?" she tensed her muscles, bracing herself for the answer, knowing it already, "no one." she collapsed to her knees, hiding her face behind her human hand, "no one thought of you for very long after you ran away from us. No one cared for too long. No one wanted to care for too long." finally, she ducked a scythe blade._

"_You're damn lucky I can't kill you, or you'd be in tiny bits and pieces by now, you sick little bitch!" Zykan snapped, glaring, "sure, when we first met her, we were weirded out and didn't want her around, but, we were never this cruel. And if I think it's sick and twisted to the point where it makes me sick just looking at you, it's past Hell freezingly horrifying to the rest of the group over there."_

"_Zykan–?" Azuril looked up at him,_

"_if I were you, I'd haul my ass back by Damien, then hide." Zykan said. Azuril did as told, the rest of the group following, Annakhin peeking out from behind the rock she was hiding behind. First, a short chase ensued, then Clare got bored with the passive approach, finally bringing out her weapon, going after Zykan with it._

"_Zykan, be careful, you don't know how powerful she might be!" Annakhin yelled, Zykan paused, looking down at her for a second,_

"_will you be-"_

"_Zykan, watch it man!" Damien yelled, pointing at something, Zykan turned to look, panicked and put up a barrier fast, if the attack had hit, it would have continued on, hitting the rest of the group hidden behind him._

"_Damn, that was close..." Zykan muttered, then he shot forward with an attack Clare barely blocked, "you are making my life way too fuckin' difficult, bitch!" he hooked her blade and pushed it away from her with his scythe, then popped in some magic, grabbing her around the throat and having a short snack on some of the black powers she was radiating,_

"_What are you!" she cried, Zykan still gripping her throat, he smirked,_

"_you wouldn't believe me if I told you, human. And that's what you are, nothing more. Remember that. As your sister once said, 'humans feel, they mourn the remember' you do the same. Do the math on why you yourself feel empty. Oh, yeah," another good jolt, "thanks for the snack." then he twisted the blade of his scythe more, making her drop her sword, followed shortly by him dropping her "way less than you deserve. I can't kill you, I'll feel the pain of doing so, but I can say; leave your sister alone. She messed up, she knows it, she's trying to fix it. Chapter closed. See ya, brat." then he walked back over by the group, "can we go now?" everyone, in a bit of a daze, nodded._

"_Stop it!" Azuril shrieked, running into the middle of a fight between her sister and Zykan, apparently, Angela hadn't counted on Zykan being what he was and had sent Clare for a round two for observation. Apparently, Zykan had that figured out and wasn't using any tricks, just normal speed and skill, normal for him, way above average for humans. "Zykan! Stop! This can't continue!"_

"_Tell her that!" Zykan snapped, blocking a blow from a blade, "she seems to like trying to decapitate me."_

"_Clare, don't! Why are you doing this?" Clare stilled, then she looked at her sister,_

"_because I was ordered to. And if he doesn't start using those tricks of his soon, he'll get hurt." she said, trying to provoke him, it worked, sort of,_

"_I can do just fine without my tricks and spells thank you very much, ya little pest! If she wants a show, I'll give her one without magic!" then he went after her again._

"_No..." Azuril murmured, "it's not right...it shouldn't be like this-it—" her vision went black as she fainted dead away._

"_Shut up! Leave her alone, you bitch!" Bobby yelled, glaring at the younger of the two sisters, who had the older of them crouched down on the ground, covering her ears and crying,_

"_this is cruel. We need to help. Now." Annakhin said,_

"_I'd love to hack that girl's head off, but we still seem to be stuck to the ground." Zykan said, referring to the fact that, somehow, Azuril's sister had managed to sneak in a small bit of power and use it to shove them to the ground, not relenting._

"_She'll make her snap! If that happens, we might not be able to defend ourselves against whatever it is she may turn into." Skayr said, "she transforms when damaged too much, am I right?"_

"_Shit. I didn't think of that! Hey! Shut up! Lay off her, you don't know what you're doing! Stop it!" Damien yelled frantically, not liking the idea of being stuck in one spot while Azuril transformed and lost control of herself._

"_What makes you say that? I know her well enough, I also know about the fact that all she is is a bunch of bits and pieces of a bunch of different things. It almost makes me sad. But it makes me even more sick when I realize she's still a blood relative."_

"_No..." Azuril whispered, "that's not-"_

"_that's not true? Hell, do you think I'm stupid? She told me what you could do, what you are. And what to do to set you off." she smirked broadly when Azuril started shaking her head rapidly,_

"_no, I am not that cruel! I am not going to hurt them! I can control it!" she cried_

"_that's what you said about all of those freak disorders back home. 'I can do it by myself'. Then, that one day after forgetting you could cry, I heard you crying, I walked away."_

"_No..."_

"_I heard you talking to mom, about the fact that you'd blown up at your friends-"_

"_stop, it wasn't that easy, or that simple! You know it!"_

"_And for no good reason either, wow, at least you had the fact that I'm your little sister and hitting me and yelling me is expected of an older sibling."_

"_Stop it..."_

"_Azuril, don't listen to her! Don't even acknowledge her! Don't listen!" Miko cried_

"_she's just trying to break you! Don't allow her that win!" Skayr yelled,_

"_what about when you said that you wouldn't let your emotions hinder you!" Damien suddenly yelled, Clare looked at him and Azuril froze, "you told me, earlier on, that you let emotions get in the way too much. You told me you wouldn't let them get in the way ever again! How is this keeping that promise to yourself-!"_

"_You sure do give convincing arguments, don't you?" Clare said, walking over to stand in front of the group she'd trapped against the ground. Azuril was on her feet in a heartbeat,_

"_Clare, no-!"_

"_Leave him alone? Right?" Clare finished for her sister, who was eyeing her warily, "honestly, if what you keep telling me is true, about not loving him, then why are you so overly protective?"_

"_Because he runs into a fight with no thought otherwise. He is always the one most likely to get killed, if any of my other friends were the same, I would be the same way with them. Stop trying to make it sound like more than it is." Azuril responded, rather quickly, Clare grinned, then looked at Bobby and Skayr, Azuril's eyes widened in horror, Jessi! Lisa! her mind automatically said, "stop! Stop it! Leave them alone!" she cried, beating her sister to the girls, "not them, don't hurt them."_

"_Why? Because that looks like your friend and our cousin? Jessi walked away after the funeral, she went half-vegetable after you were pronounced a dead and lost cause."_

"_What...?" Azuril's legs caved under her and she fell to her knees, staring wide eyed at her sister, "Jessi...she..."_

"_They put her in a ward." Azuril fell back so she was sitting on her feet, she looked like someone had shot her, "mom and dad, well, they never recovered fully. Especially after I ran away to become stronger, I heard they died from grief." there was no color anywhere on Azuril's face and she looked like she was about to be ill, "and if that's what happened to them, what do you think of our grand parents?" she started to shake, hugging herself automatically, eyes still wide with horrified guilt in them, "your friends from your group over there were blown away by it too. Much counseling was involved." she clenched her teeth together, holding back her screams, it was nearing the point where she would need to get as far from her friends as possible, she was trying to fight the monster down, hoping she wouldn't lose. "And, I forgot Lisa earlier." she was getting nauseous just from the possibilities of what had happened to her friend, "she committed suicide right after the funeral for you, and you were still alive when she did so the entire time. You were the cause of her suffering, and you could easily have changed that, but you didn't, you as good as killed her yourself." she choked, bent forward onto her hands and knees and emptied her stomach right there, too far gone from that information to care about anything, she could hear her sister laughing, but she didn't look up,_

"_d-don't...no–no more...please..." she begged, closing her eyes as she fought back the monster inside her, "kill me-and go. P-please."_

"_Killing you would be no fun. Besides, isn't your boyfriend the one that's supposed to kill me? You know the game, you know it's true."_

"_Stop..."_

"_I also remember being told, somewhere along the line, that my character tries to kill him at every chance meeting." Azuril's eyes widened, her head snapped up, even with the tears blurring her vision, she could still tell where her sister was,_

"_stop it!" she cried, "don't!" She scrambled over to Damien, doing the first thing that came to mind when she was trying to defend either herself or someone else, pulling her gun out and aiming at her sister's head, "leave them be. Leave him be." her friends watched in shock when she spoke to her sister, now suddenly in a dangerous tone, one that made it perfectly clear that she'd pull the trigger if she needed to. Even her sister looked shocked for a second, "yes, you continually attempt to kill him, yes, in the end you die by his hand. But that is in a game from our own era. This new game has different rules, sister." the shock was back on her sister's face, some nervousness and confusion on everyone's faces, her voice was slightly different, a harsher tone, one that was even threatening, but a sleek and cocky note was added in, her eyes were narrowed dangerously and she truly looked ready to pull the trigger, "the rules are different. Here, the characters are only copies, in personality, nothing more. Their stories also mostly differ from the ones depicted in the game. Her's another new part, you're a sad copy of a man who was weak enough to lose himself after only seeing one half of his position. I am a nearly exact replica, the only differences I have are eye and hair color, and gender. We are the same otherwise."_

"_And the new rules? I don't give a shit about any of that. I want to know what you're holding back." Clare said, her sister grinned wickedly, making them all stare in shock,_

"_as opposed to letting Damien's character go through with what he needs to do in order to keep the plot going, you die by bullet, not by blade. It's personal now. And I won't hold back next time." before she could do anything else, her grip on her gun loosened and she dropped it, she swayed for a second, then fell over, out cold the last thing she managed to hear was the rest of her friends, yelling her name, telling her to wake up, but she was too tired, and she chose to take a nap instead._

"_I wanted you to know  
That I love the way you laugh  
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain …away  
I keep your photograph  
And I know it serves me well  
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain  
because I'm broken when I'm lonesome  
And I don't feel right when you're gone away_

You've gone away  
You don't feel me here...anymore

The worst is over now  
And we can breathe again  
I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away  
There's so much left to learn  
And no one left to fight  
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain

cause I'm broken when I'm open  
And I don't feel like I am strong enough  
cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome  
And I don't feel right when you're gone away  


_cause I'm broken when I'm open  
And I don't feel like I am strong enough  
cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome  
And I don't feel right when you're gone away_

cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome  
And I don't feel right when you're gone...away

You're gone away  
You don't feel me here...anymore"  


---

Seether and Amy Lee; _Broken_; _Punisher soundtrack_


	8. ch 7 what really matters

What Really Matters

she let out a terrified shriek as she sat bolt upright, looking around frantically, before she could move around too much she was half tackled and hugged,

"I'm so glad you're ok! Damien, Bobby and I were trying so hard to get you back!" Annakhin cried,

"Annakhin? Get me back from where?"

"You went into 'veggie-mode' after that last war of the words with Clare. We've been trying everything we could think of to wake you. We were even going to try to get Zykan to go into your thoughts and drag your ass back to reality, but he wouldn't do it. No matter how many times he went 'down'."

"Not fuckin funny!" Zykan yelled from his perch on the tree he'd been in for most of the day.

"I...what? I went into shock again?" she said, clearly confused at the whole thing.

"Damien! Skayr, Miko, she's awake!" Annakhin cried, the group was around her shortly after, Miko and Bobby looked slightly apologetic,

"we...thought you were gone for good." Miko said,

"I kept telling them to just leave you in some random town and keep on course." Bobby admitted, "I'm real sorry."

"No apologies are needed."

"You're ok, then?" Damien said, crouching down in front of her, she nodded, then was the victim of Pardoner jumping on her. The little kitten scrambled his way up onto her shoulder purring and rubbing his head on her cheek, she gave a tiny smile and seemed very relieved to see the cat, Damien frowned, "more sins, then, eh?" she nodded again, "if you mean that freaky spaz you had the last time we saw your sister, forget it. Like I said a while back, I told them to leave it alone. Whatever it is that caused that, it's history. Ok?" she hesitated for a long moment, then, nodded.

"I can't say that it will never happen again, though. I was concentrating so hard on holding back the transformation that I didn't notice her-it" she seemed reluctant to go on with that sentence after that slip up, but she finished it, "slide right past me...I spoke too much, please, forgive me."

"Who's 'she'?" Bobby asked, Damien gave her a look,

"didn't I say drop it?" he said, "though I'm curious myself. But, I'll leave it be too."

"Thank you" then she watched in confusion as Damien turned around and flipped Zykan off, yelling at him to 'quit with that shit', only resulting in Zykan falling out of the tree he was in, laughing hystericly, "Damien...?" he froze, Zykan stopped laughing and watched for a second, "what are you talking about? What did Zykan do now?"

"Yeah, really, this one looks like a good one." Miko said, now everyone was interested and Damien was spazzing, babbling bits and pieces of the truth and several things he had planned on using to save his ass later on, Zykan was in hysterics again, every now and then managing to breathe properly. Azuril and Pardoner watched the entire thing, then she looked st the kitten,

"it seems I will have to ask you to forgive me for lighting this fire as well." she said, Pardoner mewed loudly, "my sentiments exactly." she said, going back to silently watching the humorous scene she'd managed to crawl away from, just in case she might get stepped on.

"Come on, Damien, you didn't get hurt! Lemme alone!" Zykan cried, climbing as high as he could up a tree, Damien stopped under the tree, glaring up at Zykan,

"because, you little ass! You know what I'm talking about! Get the hell down here so I can kill you!"

"How fucking stupid do you think I am! Not on your life!"

"Get down here, you freak!"

"No!"

"Should we stop them?" Miko asked, she was sitting next to Bobby, helping with cooking lunch, Skayr was watching the pot on a grate over the fire, making sure nothing boiled over, Annakhin was bringing over some vegetables, glancing over her shoulder at the two boys of the group,

"no," she said, setting the vegetables down between Miko and Bobby, then she started chopping them up to put in the stew, Bobby was dealing with the meat, cutting it up and separating it into several piles, trying to figure out how much to use in the stew to leave them a fair enough amount for later on. Miko was examining some small jars with different spices and herbs in them for cooking, "let's let them burn out. They'll stop Eventually."

"Ok." Bobby said, finally putting the meat into the stew, she went back to the chopped bits she'd been working on and blinked a bit, "hey! Get away from my meat, fuzz ball!" she snapped, diving at Pardoner as he grabbed up a large piece of meat in his mouth and ran with it, hiding in Azuril's arms as she caught him from a flying leap away from Bobby, she settled back against the small pile of wood they had gathered up for their fire, holding the kitten as he watched Bobby come to a sudden stop in front of her, "that cat ate my meat!"

"He needs to eat too." Azuril said blandly, defending her kitten, petting him as he ate his dinner, "you've plenty more where this one piece came from, and we will be buying more at the nearest town. I think it's safe to say that you can spare one piece for him." Bobby sputtered slightly, then stared in confusion as Azuril pointed at something behind her, "your stew is boiling over. And your kitchen-mates are panicking." Bobby's eyes widened and she turned around, running back over to the fire, and her stew, screaming profanities. Azuril smirked with some amusement, then she closed her eyes, leaning back, relaxing all of her muscles, she was tired, though it had been a week since she'd come out of her state of shock, she was still exhausted, mentally and physically. She vaguely registered the sound of Annakhin finally getting fed up with Damien and Zykan and yelling 'down' about six times in a row, followed by Bobby announcing the stew was ready, apparently she'd saved it. That meant her rest was short lived,

"I should kill you right now!" suddenly played through her head, whenever she was conscious, properly thinking, that phrase haunted her.

"Azuril?" it was Miko, "though I think I know the answer already, are you hungry?" Azuril shook her head,

"no. I'm fine, but, I will come to join you if that is part of it." she said, Pardoner had just finished his meal and looked around, searching for something, "and I will ask for water for Pardoner."

"We can do that." Miko said, walking back over by the fire, taking some lunch, Azuril sat down next to Bobby, Skayr was sitting on Bobby's other side, Azuril was trying to keep close to them, after what Clare had said, she wasn't going to leave them alone again, not ever. Bobby glared at Pardoner, who had caught on to the fact that, no matter what he'd done, all he had to do was run to Azuril and no one could touch him. The 'mother and child' effect. Azuril filled a small bowl with water and set it down for Pardoner, who happily took advantage of its presence.

"Azuril, are you ok? You look tired." Annakhin said, with everything that her friend had gone through in such a short amount of time, she was worried for her health.

"I am fine. Just tired, that is all."

"Hope you're not shittin us, cuz I ain't carrying you if you pass out." Zykan said, back up in the closest tree, eating his lunch, though it looked as though he didn't like it.

"Are you alright, Zykan? You look ill." Azuril half teased, he glared at her,

"I ate too much that's all. It's all yours, Bobby." he said, passing the bowl of stew down to Bobby, who gave it a suspicious look,

"you didn't drug it or something, did you?"

"No! Why the hell would I do that!"

"It's just a little suspicious that nothing's changed about it since I gave it to you, you know, how much is in the bowl. Did you even eat a bite of this?"

"Yes, I did. And I don't want it."

"A moment ago you said you'd eaten too much, now you just don't want it? Big switch, Zykan."

"Who said you could talk, Miko?"

"She has a point."

"shut up, Damien!

"My, touchy, aren't we?"

"Bravo, Skayr, now ya got him even more pissed."

"So?"

"I hate all of you."

"I'm hurt."

"Good, dammit!"

"Aw, let him be, guys. If he isn't hungry then he doesn't have to eat."

"Yes! I love you!"

"Will you people finish eating so we can continue towards the next town. I need to buy more ammo."

"Yes, ma-am."

"Do we get to stay here and sleep in real beds for the night, Damien?" Bobby asked, Damien was exhausted, he'd broken up several fights between Skayr and Zykan, several fights between Miko and Zykan, and several murder attempts by Bobby, Annakhin had done most of the work with Zykan, though.

"Yes. Bed. Bed good." Damien mumbled, slightly irritated at being bugged right away once they first entered the town,

"I'll go rent some rooms." Miko said,

"Zykan and I will take care of getting more food and medical supplies." Annakhin said,

"we will?"

"Zykan, I don't want to say it in public, but you know I will."

"Yes, ma'am."

"She has him cock-whipped." Bobby said, Skayr snickered a bit at that, "we'll go hunt down more supplies, miscellaneous stuff." she said, leading Skayr away into one of the shops nearby. Damien and Azuril stood staring dumbly at the space where people had once been.

"They did that on purpose." Damien said, Azuril gave him an odd look,

"am I truly that displeasing to the eye?" she said, half serious, she still knew she looked like the freak monster she was, but when she had her friends around her, she'd forget about it for a while. Damien blanched, then jumped back a bit, shaking his head,

"no, that's not what I meant, I mean, well, you and, uh, well, and I, uh..."

"Forget it." she said flatly, "I will allow the general public to judge me. Not someone who will say I don't look like a monster just because he is a friend." she said, Pardoner was asleep in her arms and she wondered how she would go about doing things while he was there. She didn't want to wake him, but she did want to get her shopping done.

"You still think you look like a monster, huh?" Damien said, walking over to stand in front of her, "well, gain some self-confidence. You don't look like a monster, or freak or whatever, ignore Zykan's vampire remarks, he's just mocking the coffin we found you in, that's where that all came from."

"I had it figured that that came from his demented conscious, but it still irks me. Though, I'm growing used to it."

"Yeah. You answered to 'Vampire Girl' several times so far. I'm not sure whether that's good or bad though..."

"We will find out later at some point, I'm sure." she said, then she looked around, found what she was looking for and headed towards it, a weapons and munitions store,

"that girl is a predictable basket-case." Damien muttered before following her. When he caught up with her she was staring at something on the shelf in front of her longingly, she obviously needed it, but hadn't grabbed it, or anything for that matter. Then he noticed why, Pardoner was still asleep in her arms. "What do you need? I'll carry it." he said, she nodded towards something on the shelf and he grabbed it for her, this continued until they went to the counter with only three or four small things and several larger things, she didn't over spend like everyone else, she got what she wanted then left, blunt enough, cheap enough. Sometimes he thought that that was the only reason she'd grab only a few things, because she wanted to save them some money. They paid and left, "damn, this stuff is heavy. And you lug it around like it's nothing."

"I am used to carrying what I need to, light or heavy." she said, he sighed and shook his head, she wasn't much of a conversationalist unless you caught her off guard. On their way to the inn Miko was waiting for them at, they got several odd looks, Damien seemed to be the only one who noticed, or maybe he was just the only one who cared. Several boys, about Damien's age, if not older, snickered as the pair walked by,

"now that is an odd couple." one of them said, Damien glared over his shoulder at them, just getting pissier when they laughed more,

"Damien, do not waste time and energy on fools and clowns, Miko is waiting." Azuril said, thus vexing one of the boys,

"she's a fine one to call someone a clown, look at the wardrobe on her part, it just makes her look like a femmie." his friends snickered at that, another one of them spoke up,

"y'know, I'd have to check on that to see if she's just a queer, or just some creepy, confused chick. about those, And her boyfriend isn't saving her much either, that's where the 'fool' bart of the relationship comes from, right?" Azuril was slowing her pace greatly, Damien gave her a confused look, especially when she stopped walking and seemed to be listening to something, then he registered the teasing continuing behind their backs,

"it takes a fool to date a clown, I get it now. He'd have to be a fool to be seen with someone who looks like her."

"Don't you mean 'it'? I thought those things kinda had their own category."

"Yeah, it does. But they all end out saying; either 'there's guy dragging a little queer femmie towards the inn, or the kid's just nuts and that really is a chick." Azuril walked over to Damien, handing him Pardoner,

"hold him, I won't kill them." she said, then she walked back to the boys, staring at them expectantly.

"What the hell are you doing you freak!" Azuril shrugged slightly,

"waiting for the talking monkey's next performance. Or are the curtains closed for today?"

"What?"

"You seemed quite talkative when you thought we weren't listening. Now, I would like to know what was said about me. If you are going to insult me, mock me or taunt me, than say the words to my face, instead of taking the coward's way out. And, if you have such a problem with seeing Damien, go home, stay a bit longer and continue to stare dumbly and I'll shoot you." she said in her normal monotone, holding up her gun. The group scattered. "I thought as much."

"Why are you always using that thing to get out of trouble?" Damien said as he handed Pardoner over to Azuril. She shrugged,

"I'd be hypocritical if I lied to them. I thought it best to tell the truth." she said, then she started walking again, Damien staring bug-eyed after her.

"you threatened to shoot someone again?" Bobby said, Azuril just sat in silence, waiting for the rant to end so she could walk away, she knew this routine from her time spent with her cousin. "Why are you always using your gun instead of your brain?"

"Because had I not warned them first, I would have fired anyway." Azuril said plainly,

"a blunt and effective approach, if I do say so myself." Zykan said from his seat on the ceiling of the hotel room, Bobby glared at him,

"well, you don't have a say here. So shut up." he flipped her off, but she was already back at Azuril, "they could arrest you for that sort of thing, not to mention, out of paranoia from your appearance, they might shoot you. Then what?"

"Then I would die knowing that I truly do look like a monster, as you said." Azuril said, Bobby did a double-take,

"what? When did I say-"

"lemme see if I can quote it...oh! Here we go! 'Not to mention, out of paranoia from your appearance, they might shoot you.'." Zykan said, Bobby glared at him,

"I didn't mean-"

"'out of paranoia from her appearance'...nice way of saying you think they'll think she's a freak and shoot her. You're so generous, Bobby." he added, Bobby cringed,

"is that really what it sounded like?" she said, Zykan seemed to think on it for a second, then he nodded,

"pretty much."

"Shit! Azuril, I didn't mean-"

"I do not care about words. Though, I use them to figure out what it is I am."

"You take a freak 'head-count' sorta thing to decide on what it is you really are?" Zykan said,

"Zykan, don't say it like that." Annakhin said, Damien sighed loudly,

"I think we've had enough time to bash Azuril today. get outta her room. Let's go. Let her alone." he said, jabbing Zykan with his sword, "you too, freak-job."

"Dammit! I'm going, I'm going! Cut it out!" Zykan snapped, falling off the ceiling, landing on his feet near the door, he picked up his scythe and left the room, pausing a second to look behind him, raise an eyebrow and smirk at Damien, who flipped him off, then he left the room completely.

"What is it that has you acting so oddly like that?" Azuril said, putting Pardoner down on her bed, Damien blanched, then repeated his earlier response of incoherent babble, she sighed and shook her head, "never mind." he looked somewhat relieved by that statement. "You become stranger and stranger by the minute, Damien."

"Well, I'm glad you don't hate me, at least."

"Would I have defended you if I hated you?"

"Guess not. Thanks, by the way."

"It was nothing."

"Hey, Azuril," Damien sat down on the girl's bed, automatically getting attacked by Pardoner, who wanted to play with a thread he'd found somewhere, Damien complied, not having much choice. Azuril looked up from her work, she was sitting on a chair against the wall a small ways away from the bed, cleaning her gun, parts were laid out on the dresser top next to her and she was obviously having somewhat of a tough time pulling off cleaning them with only one human hand, he raised an eyebrow, "want some help with that?"

"Is that what you wanted to say?" she looked slightly confused, if he sat around by her when he knew most of her attention was focused on something else, he'd normally say or ask something a little more relevant and serious than that.

"No, just noticed you seemed to be having trouble." he said with a shrug, "ow!" Pardoner had a good grip on his hand and wasn't letting go. "Get off me, ya fuzz-ball!" he said, finally getting Pardoner to let go, "evil little demon cat." he muttered, glaring at the kitten, who was already busy playing with the thread again.

"I'm positive that wasn't your intended reason for staying here either." Azuril said absently, still concentrating on her cleaning.

"No, no, it wasn't. I wanted to make sure none of those insults or jokes got to you at all, you know, the comments about you being a monster or a freak?"

"Words have no power to impress the mind compared to the exquisite horror of their reality. Damien, I am not affected by the truth anymore."

"Whoa. Ok. That was eerie in a way, poetic, but eerie." Damien said, then he stood up and headed for the door, "just checking. I guess, I think, I mean I hope that meant that you're alright." he left the room after that.

"Zykan, you shit-head, you cheated!"

"The more stupid they are, the more they try to blame it on somebody else."

"Oh yeah! Then answer me this, fat-head, how do you get four aces four times in a row! How! How! By cheating, that's how!"

"Look, don't blame me because you're stupid!"

"I'm stupid for thinking you would play fair!"

"No, you're just stupid."

"They've been arguing like that for the past hour. Damien, can't you take the cards away or something?" Bobby said, looking at the blond sitting across the table from her, he groaned and let his head hit the table as he fell forward,

"no more, dammit! No more!" he whined, Zykan and Miko had been playing cards for quite sometime and couldn't get through a game without arguing every turn. Suddenly, there were two loud 'thwack' noises, followed by Zykan and Miko cursing,

"ow-what the hell'd you do that for!" Zykan snapped, when Damien and Bobby turned to see what had just happened, they saw a very miffed Skayr, holding, what looked to be, some sort of fan, glaring at them. Then she started kicking at Zykan's head, still glaring,

"just shut up, and play nice, and if you make another sound, I'll do it again!" then she stalked away. Miko snickered at Zykan as he tried to fix his hair, he looked like a girl with it hanging down out of a pony tail, her laughter was cut short by a book hitting her in the face, "didn't I say 'shut up'!" Skayr practically screamed from across the lobby, they were waiting for a few more members of the party before they went to the next room, which had a huge breakfast buffet in it, only for people who had rented a room the night before though. Annakhin and Azuril were still no shows.

"Can't we leave without them?-" another book was thrown,

"damn you, I said shut up!"

"How does she do that?" Damien said, Bobby shrugged, then looked at Zykan, who was rubbing his head where the book had hit him and growling under his breath, "Zykan, you know damned well that you won't get very far without Annakhin and that freaky bracelet of hers-" Zykan jumped to his feet, covering her mouth, preparing to at least attempt to duck some random blunt object Skayr might throw at him,

"shut up about that! Remember, I'm still a spell-locked fugitive! People will have been told what to do to control me, or kill me. I like living. No jewelry, kyay?" he whispered, loud enough for her to hear over the rest of the noise in the lobby, she nodded, then ducked, Damien and Zykan both looked oddly at her, then heard a noise similar to a creaking of old springs in a chair. The pair looked up and spazzed,

"Skayr! Skayr! No! Don't-" Damien was cut short when a couch landed on him, and Zykan.

"...down down down down down down down!" Annakhin finished, she'd had Skayr drag Zykan outside, then started yelling at him, for, what she called, terrorizing the general public, he was starting to feel the hurt from the bracelet's hold on him as well as the pain inflicted by being repeatedly bashed into the dirt. Azuril had simply stood aside, watching Skayr clean up the mess she made, Bobby scolding Miko about being stupid enough to play a game against the devil, Damien stood aside as well, Miko was his best friend, and he'd give anything for her because of that, but not if Bobby, her huge boomerang, and hot temper were involved. He wasn't an idiot, like hell he'd go in there, especially since Bobby had her boomerang on her back, where she could easily yank it off and beat him with it. He sighed and walked away, sitting down on one of the chairs Skayr hadn't thrown at someone,

"I have an odd feeling I'm not going to make it through this journey sane." he muttered, Azuril looked at him, Pardoner was running around by her feet, she wasn't letting him go too far, she didn't want to lose him.

"I can't say that I disagree with you." she said, then Annakhin came back inside, Zykan limping in, healing quickly, but still in pain, the bracelet's effects fading as well.

"dammit! That hurt-" he was hit with a book

"Skayr!"

"It was a reflex."

"Sure...whatever."

"Come on, you guys, let's go eat."

"Alright!"

"Bobby, wait for us!"

"You're yelling after deaf ears."

"Whatever, I'm hungry."

"Then let's go before I let Skayr chuck a book or piece of furniture at your head."

"You're cruel..."

"...come, Pardoner, I do not wish to be left alone with them..."

"Ha, ha, Azuril!"

"Walk, all of you, before I become too annoyed..."

"Going!"

Despite the odd glances, for both Bobby's endless eating, and Zykan, Skayr and Azuril's appearances, breakfast went well enough, even though Azuril had to hide Pardoner under the table to give him breakfast without getting him thrown outside.

"So, where are we off to next, oh fearless leader?" Zykan said, then he snagged the last piece of sausage,

"hey!" Miko snapped, "that's my sausage, you freak-job!" she ended out snatching at it frantically when Zykan waved it around in front of her face, then the group was rescued again, Skayr hit them with the harrisan, Azuril had called it a harrisan,

"god! Give her the damn sausage and go grab your own!" then she pointed at Miko, "and you quit being such a little moron!"

"I hate my life." Damien moaned, hiding his face behind his hands. Finally, Skayr sat down and Zykan and Miko shut up. "Well, now that that fiasco's over and done with, Zykan, to answer your earlier question, we're going west from here. Someone saw a woman matching Angela's description, down to the letter, headed west."

"But, how many other people are out there that might fit that description, Damien? It's too broad a category." Azuril said, popping another whole piece of bacon into her mouth.

"I can just hear your arteries hardening." Bobby said, Azuril looked at her quickly, but calmed down right away,

"my cousin would say that exact same phrase whenever she looked over what food I was going to eat." then she grabbed a piece of bacon right out of Zykan's hand, he blinked a bit, decided against arguing with the girl with a gun, and grabbed some toast.

"You're eating every piece of bacon or sausage you can get at. What's that about?" Damien said, Azuril just shrugged,

"my favorite foods." then she bent down and put a piece of sausage down under the table for Pardoner, who tackled it, he hadn't eaten yet, she'd given him a small bowl of milk, but she'd been waiting until the best moment to sneak him his breakfast.

"You're feeding him restaurant style sausage? The cat's gonna clog an artery or two, or go into cardiac arrest, or whatever." Zykan said, then he smirked and grabbed the last piece of sausage,

"Zykan, you shit-head, you did that on purpose!" Miko snapped as she watched him eat the sausage in one bite,

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Liar!"

smacksmack

"will you shut up!" Skayr snapped, glaring at the pair she'd hit, for the umpteenth time that morning.

"Fine! I won't purposely provoke her anymore! Geez!" Zykan said, Annakhin came back from her quick run to get more sausage and bacon, she put the bacon down in front of Azuril automatically, then she put the sausage in the middle of the table and took her seat again, sipping at her tea, she wasn't a coffee person.

"Azuril's right, dude. She may be an evil psycho fuck up bitch, but she does a good job at blending in.-ow! Fuck!" Zykan said, Pardoner was on his lap, holding his hand down by standing on it, claws out to insure he stayed up properly, eating his sausage, "why you little-!" he went after the kitten with a fork, but only succeeded in stabbing himself in the arm when the cat took the sausage and ran. From the slight jump Azuril did a second later, he'd taken a seat on her lap, she gave Zykan a flat look while watching him licking at the places he'd been stabbed or clawed,

"apparently he likes restaurant style sausage." she said, he glared at her,

"teach that thing how to act like a pet, not a brat! He ain't living through trying to steal my food again!" he snapped, he could hear a familiar 'click' sort of noise under the table and he paled, "um...forget I talked." 'Un-click'. He sighed in relief, then went back to his wounds.

"Oo...kyay..." Damien said, giving Zykan an awkward look as he watched Annakhin, one, heal his wounds, and, two, scold him for trying to skewer Pardoner. "I know she has a point there but, there's one thing Angela has that the other girls won't have, unless she opened a tattoo parlor, Angela has a small pair of black bat's wings tattooed on her neck. That's why I'm only following certain leads, they mention it."

"Dude, I am so not gonna ask how you know where and what that tattoo is." Zykan said, then he yelped and ducked a fork,

"shut up!" Damien said, slightly red in the face. Some of the girls gave him odd looks, the rest either chose to ignore it, or concentrate on blocking it out. Miko glared at Zykan for a second, he hid behind Annakhin, more remarks on Damien's love life...when he had one...followed, then they were back to business.

"So, we're seeking the girl with a tattoo on her neck?" Skayr said, she was one of those who just ignored her surroundings. Damien nodded,

"and, from what I've gathered and what I said earlier, she's headed west."

"Well, then that's where we're headed for certain." Skayr said, slightly angry just from talking about Angela,

"cool it, Skayr. You'll get your chance." Bobby said, Skayr growled, but calmed down, grabbing the last of the sausage, no one complained.

"If we are all finished frightening the other guests in the room, I suggest we take our leave." Azuril said, picking up Pardoner, Damien nodded, Bobby as well,

"I think we've freaked these people out enough for the rest of their lives. Let's leave them with some sanity." she said, following Damien and Azuril, Skayr close behind, Miko, Annakhin and Zykan, who'd been overly paranoid about the 'too big for him' robe he wore slid off one of his shoulder, or show off too many seals and wards that took up much space on him, also, stealing a quick glance over his shoulder as they left, following.

"Uh, Damien, I hate to be a broken record-"

"what the hell is a record, anyway?" Skayr said, Bobby looked at Azuril,

"you mentioned it before, tell all what a record is."

"A disk with different grooves and lines marked on it, they somehow make music when you put them on a turn table, a record player, a spin them around fast, with a pin of some kind touching the surface...I'm not sure, I only ever saw my cousin use one, I never really learned anything more."

"Oh...I don't get it." Zykan said,

"then let it be." Azuril said, "you were in the middle of saying something to Damien, I believe."

"Oh! Yeah, thanks! Damien, I hate to, um, repeat my self continuously, but, are you sure we're going in the right direction?"

"Of course I'm sure...ok, no I'm not."

"Just go by where the sun is, genius." Bobby said, "the sunrises in the east and sets in the west."

"Ok, Bobby, whatever."

"You wanna bet me money?"

"No. Fine, let's 'follow the light'."

"Funny, Damien..."

"Yeah, even Azuril's cat's laughing."

"Shut up, Zykan!"

"Moving on, we are moving on!"

"Thank you, Miko."

"No prob. Hey! I said move!"

"...Pardoner, will it be a sin to shoot them?"

"Ok, yeah, we're moving!"

After that riveting conversation, Damien led the way, Azuril stayed in the back with her hand on her gun, and her cat on her shoulder.

"Hey, Azuril, how come you're not up by Bobby?" Zykan said, he'd noted Bobby's somewhat control over Azuril, Skayr as well, but no where near as much as Bobby, Damien was the only other person besides those two that could tell her to do something knowing she'll do it.

"I will do as I please unless ordered otherwise." she said, tilting her head a bit to get her hair away from Pardoner, "not now, my friend, I must keep my focus." then she kept walking.

"I swear it, she likes that cat more than she does all of us combined." Zykan said, giving Azuril a short glance from behind him, Miko nodded,

"but, she's not our problem. She can jump off a cliff for all I care." she said, Annakhin looked at her friend,

"she can hear you, and you shouldn't say all of those horrible things just because you're jealous of her unwanted devotion from Damien."

"Unwanted?" Zykan tilted his head to the side a bit, giving her a confused look, "what do you mean by that? She seems fine with it to me."

"But, that's because you're an observer, and a guy. We're talking about one of the people that are being observed, a female one. Different genders, different brains, different answers." Annakhin said, looking over shoulder at Azuril, who had busied herself with trying to detatch Pardoner from her shoulder so she could carry him, but he wasn't budging. "She's human too-"

"she's human?" Miko said, "she's told us several hundred times that she isn't human, and she's proved it repeatedly."

"Yo, I gotta agree with Missy here. You're turning green, my friend."

"What?"

"Green with envy." he said, "you're buggin out because someone you care about is trying to have a life, and you don't like it. Glad I'm not in Damien's spot."

"Miko, I'm sure he still cares about you. That's never going to change. You're always going to be his best friend. But, if you are his friend, you'll let him be happy."

"Besides, we all know that, Eventually, with all of the disasters that come with that girl, he'll hit the ground like a rock. Then you can comfort him, or whatever it is you people do." Zykan said flippantly. Annakhin gave him a look,

"if you weren't almost exactly correct, I'd say it." she said. "But you did hit something there. Azuril will just keep pushing him away, and in the end, he'll need someone who does care to help him. Just hold on Miko. You have so far. You're strong enough to last a little bit longer, right?" Miko nodded,

"you're right. He'll come around when she keeps pushing him away from her. I can help him then."

"Alright. Enough of that, I'm gonna barf."

"Down."

thud

"very nice."

"I hate you both."

They found the nearest town before nightfall, it was a ghost town, no one on the streets or in front of any of the buildings,

Why am I having flashbacks to old shit-western movies? Azuril thought, looking around, "we should try to find some form of life." then, a tumbleweed rolled by and Azuril did a double take, "wha...?" her eye twitched a bit, ok, now that was just damned ridiculous! I'm adding another ten minutes onto that woman's torment session for confusing me and slightly weirding me out. 

"what's wrong?" Miko asked, Azuril shook her head slowly,

"nothing."

"You're a shit liar, but we'll leave it at that. Unless told otherwise." Damien said, "ok, now what the hell're we supposed to do? Searching for life would be pointless because we'd probably get ourselves killed if these old buildings cave under us."

we could go with stereotype. Azuril's brain said, she followed its lead, looking at a building with a sign in old, faded painted letters that read 'Saloon', she made a face at it, ok, I am now freaked, I didn't think I'd actually find a saloon! I didn't know they even made these kind of towns here! Aaaaaggggh! Confused! she shook her head rapidly, trying to clear it of Young Gums scenes and stereotype western movie scenes, flashbacks were the last thing she needed.

"What's with her?" Zykan said, giving Azuril an odd look as she shook her head, looked up, then shook her head,

"don't ask me." Bobby said, "she's just weird. That's all."

"And we are the perfect group of people to be insulting one another about lack of normality." Skayr said, glaring at Bobby and Zykan, then she glared at Miko too, "I find the lot of you odd as well." then she walked over to stand next to Azuril, who finally pulled it together, "what is it? What is this place?" Azuril looked at her in shock for a second, then relaxed, picking up Pardoner, who had made a mad dash after the tumbleweed, but wandered back when he gave up on trying to keep up with it.

"It's a very well known setting in my time. Gun fights, women, drinking...wretched impersonations of southern accents..."

"Women, huh?" Zykan said, then he looked around, "choices seem limited at best-ow!" Bobby hit him several more times before Miko kicked him in the face, then Skayr beamed him across the back of his head with her harrisan.

"Keep your forked tongue in your mouth if you don't want to lose it, imp." she snapped, then they looked at Azuril, who seemed unfazed by the comment.

"You're not gonna try to shoot me or anything?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Waste of bullets and precious energy."

"Ouch."

"Ok, ok, you've finished your revenge, let's go." Damien said, "I assume, with your obvious knowledge of this scene, you know exactly where all the action is." he said, looking at Azuril, she nodded, then looked at the saloon again. "Ok, let's go." as can be expected of him, Zykan popped up next to Damien, smirking, "what ever it is you're about to say, go choke on it and die."

"I'm hurt."

"I hope so."

"That's cold, my friend, very cold." Zykan said, smirk never faltering, thus somewhat creeping out Damien.

"What do you want, get it over with and go away, you're giving me the creeps."

"'women'."

"What?"

"'women'. She said 'women', and we get zip, save for the rag dolls back there."

"What do you want, Zykan!"

"Figure it out. If she said this scene is supposed to have chicks, then why don't we use our brains, numbskull." he smacked Damien on the head, looking somewhat annoyed, "take advantage of that fact. The fact that this place is supposed to have girls, and I'm guess there's supposed to be a bar in there, I'm also guessing the guys did all the talking in there, though she doesn't make much of a conversationalist, now, does she..."

"This is about Azuril!"

"Uhh..." Zykan took a few steps away from Damien as the pair both turned around slowly, "it was all him." Damien blanched,

"what! You're the one trying to play match-maker!"

"Trying. Failing. You can clean up your own damn screw up. I'm out." then he popped out of sight.

"Damien...?" Azuril started, planning on asking him why he'd said her name, that overlapping what? But she decided to just sit and wait for him to talk. She blinked in confusion when he clenched his fists and turned back around,

"let's go." he said tensely, he sounded almost...angry. Why would he be angry? If it had something to do with Zykan then there was no need to be confused, but this was a new one on her.

first he has a whispering session with Zykan, then he bugs out and yells my name, then he gets mad. Did I do something? she tried to think of something she could have done to get him angry, nothing out of the ordinary. So it must be Zykan. No mysteries there, then. she thought to herself following the group into the saloon, with her cape and gun, she was the only one that even remotely seemed to belong in the dilapidated bar. Bobby was behind the counter, looking at bottles, she took her gaze away from that quickly, Jessi... she found Skayr poking at a piano as though she'd never seen one in her life, scaring herself something terrible when she poked one of the keys and it made noise. Lisa... she looked around the room more, Miko and Annakhin were clearing off the stools and bar top, Lizz, Anna... she looked around again, not finding the two boys of the group, oh, man, not only is Vincent one of the oldest members of their group, but he's apparently the baby sitter as well! "Zykan? Damien?" she said, her way of asking if anyone had seen the pair, Skayr looked up from her slow process of dismembering the piano to see what made it tick,

"I've not seen them." she said, then she continued her killing of the piano.

"She's never seen a piano before?" Miko said flatly, Bobby sighed, now she was cleaning out some glasses, again, Azuril found something else to look at.

"She wasn't raised in a town with those kind of things. Her people live deep in a closed off forest area, it's got mountains all around it, along with some very nice springs I've been told, that's what I mean by closed off. They weren't into making pianos and guitars or any instruments, save for some types of flutes and lyres, some drums and harp/guitar crossover, you know, basics. Nothing big. They lived off of what was provided for them. But, somehow, our resident psychopath got a hold of her and her family, she managed to escape, after watching the slow process of losing everything she had. That's why she's so sympathetic towards you, too, Azuril. She knows, slightly, where you're coming from on all of this."

"I much appreciate it. I didn't enjoy the feeling of being alone again."

"Again?"

"I have my own scars and secrets. I'm sorry, but I would prefer it if they were never brought up, consciously, in conversation again."

"Kyay. Sorry."

"You don't need to apologize. None of you have seen those two?"

"I think they went to look around upstairs." Annakhin said, pointing to the staircase, just as she'd thought, it looked like a true western saloon,

"Brothel." she muttered, then she put Pardoner down on the bar, "if you would, please, watch him for me."

"No prob." Bobby said, watching the cat go straight after its owner, grabbing it as it ran past her, "Annakhin, gimme a hand here."

"Alright." Annakhin said, taking Pardoner from Bobby, petting him smiling when he started purring.

"That cat's pampered." Bobby muttered, Miko nodded her agreement.

Azuril looked around when she got to the top of the stairs, they should be easier to spot than this...and easier to hear. Where are they? she started walking around the open hallway, opening door as she went by them, but, finally, she found something behind one of the doors that made her freeze up and stare pale faced what the fuck! There are people here! Ack! A grown woman with a teenager's brain should not be seeing this! she backed away as far as she could before the railing behind her impeded her movement, she bit back a scream, especially when the pair reacted, the woman staring dumbly, probably at the fact that Azuril was a female and fully clothed at the same time. The man in the room went after his pants, and more so, his gun. Azuril got to hers first. "I do not wish to shoot you. If you leave your weapon where it is, I will leave without killing you." she said, she knew her face betrayed her voice, which she'd finally learned to keep emotionless in even more odd situations than she had earlier. Her eyes widened further from fright and she pressed back against the railing harder, the man was yelling, but no sound was coming out, then he grabbed his gun in her moment of shock, firing it, no sound. She decided not to test theories and ducked the bullet, bolting away from the room.

"Hey, Skayr, leave that poor thing alone for a second and come over here." Bobby said, looking up, she was joined by her friend, then she pointed up, "all of you, tell me what you see."

"Azuril."

"Opening doors."

"Why?"

"Watch this next little bit, I'm positive something's gonna be there. I can just feel it."

"Uh, Bobby..." Annakhin was backing away from the bar slowly, as was Miko, Bobby and Skayr were still watching Azuril,

"Hey!" Bobby cried, Azuril had whipped out her gun and was aiming at something in the room she was in front of, freaked out to the extent of her abilities. "There's something up there!" then she became even more confused when Azuril ducked down, then ran like mad. "There was nothing there."

"Then why was she so frightened?"

"Bobby! Skayr!" Miko snapped, pointing to the bar, there was a bartender standing there, giving the pair of girls a miffed look, there was a barmaid(/slut...) There as well, giving the girls an odd look. They stood frozen for a second, then dove over the bar, knocking over a few stools when they landed, Bobby grabbed her boomerang, ready for anything that might come, but stopped and stared when the bar tender started snapping at them,

"he's not making any noise." Annakhin said, Pardoner was fluffed up and hissing, "you see them too?"

"Let's get out of here." Bobby said, the other three girls just gave blank nods, but when they turned to make a break for it, they froze up again. "Ghosts!"

"Everywhere!" Miko cried, patrons were showing up, still no noise, anywhere.

"Hey, can you hear Azuril, or Damien, or Zykan?" Bobby said suddenly, they all shook their heads, "I knew it. it's a time gap."

"A what?" Skayr said, raising an eyebrow, Bobby huffed, then started to explain,

"a gap in time, this town, well, the reason it isn't on the maps is because it keeps switching what it is."

"What?"

"A town was built here, but they built it on some sort of sacred space, one that dealt with the proper flow of time."

"Ok, but why are we surrounded by ghosts?"

"I'm getting to that. Shut up."

"Sorry."

"Ok, the reason why these guys can apparently see and hear us is because, right now, we've partly gone back in time to god knows how many years ago, and since we're the ones invading their time space, we're visible and audible to them. They're ghosts to us because they're from the past."

"So we're standing on sacred ground, being yanked around in time?" Miko said,

"pretty much."

"Well, that's not too disconcerting or anything."

"You mentioned that it keeps changing what it is. What was that about?"

"Well, since the sacred space is responsible for time related magic, this part I think Zykan will be better at explaining, since he's the one that's dragging us back in time."

"What! I'll kill him!" Miko shrieked, Bobby grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her,

"give him a break, he doesn't know it's him that's responsible. It's an unconscious reaction the sacred space is having to the fact that we have him here with us on this space. The flow if time shift from how ever far backwards or forward in time it wants, and now I think he's just made it pause for a bit. The two magic, his and this space's, are somehow reacting to one another."

"We need to find Zykan." Annakhin said, "who knows what will happen if he tries to us his tricks too much."

"Eek! Point! We're off to find a freak!"

"A very powerful one, Bobby. Remember that."

"Shut up, Skayr..."

"Wait!"

"What is it, Miko?"

"Azuril! She's from the past! If this place is gonna change time periods, she might be the only person here that can help at all! She knew about this place! Let's go find her too."

"Yeah, we'll see how far her flight from nothing took her."

"I'm telling her you said that."

"No women."

"Zykan, is that all you can think about?" Damien said, raising an eyebrow when Zykan shook his head,

"no. it isn't. Do you hear anything?"

"No." Damien said, "so? The girls are doing their own thing."

"With all of them in the same room together, do you honestly think they're just gonna sit and be quiet? We'd hear something. There's nothing. Even the silence is creepy."

"You have a point. You start checking doors down the hall over there, I'll go back to the stairs from here."

"How do I know you won't bail on me?"

"Because you're the only one that would be stupid enough to ask that question. Now walk. I'll meet you back here. Even if it doesn't work, yell if you get into trouble."

"Right." they split off, Zykan slightly more paranoid than Damien, "how the hell does he stay so damn calm during this kind of stuff? He-" he stopped walking, he'd heard something. "What the...?" he turned around to looked down at the bar, and nearly fell over the railing, "People! There are fucking people here!" he screamed almost everyone in the bar stopped moving and looked up at him, he backed up fast, backing into the room he'd been checking, hitting the bed, falling over on it, freaking out further and in the process, knocking his scythe under the bed. "Goddam!" he yanked himself free from the sheets on the bed, still choosing to keep his black robe, even if it took him quite some time to untangle it. "Where's my scythe?" he muttered, looking around for a second, he froze when he heard a floor board creak near the door way, "please, dear god, let that be Damien." he muttered, standing up and turning around slowly, "Sweet Jesus! What the hell! How-!"

Everyone froze up when they heard the first noise of the evening aside from their own voices,

"was that Zykan?" Annakhin said, referring to the scream they'd just heard, Bobby looked up,

"musta been. Looky there." she said, pointing up, Azuril was bolting around the corner upstairs, either still being chased or going to see what was wrong with Zykan, they didn't know. Damien was running back down the hall he and Zykan had originally come from, "let's go. Our ticket home might have gotten himself killed."

"Ticket home?" Miko said, Bobby smacked her forehead,

"geez! If he's the one whose magic is reacting to this place, and vis-versa, then don't ya think he's the one that can reverse it! just when I think you guys catch on to something, you amaze me further!" she said, running upstairs, "let's go! He gets killed, we're stuck as ghosts, or we might end out stuck here fully and completely!" that got the girls moving.

"Damn you, be gone!" Azuril snapped, finally going off a hunch, stopping abruptly, turning around, and shooting at the man, who, much to Azuril's surprise, bled where her bullet would have hit him, finally falling over, she assumed dead. "So, we can harm them..." she logged that away and ran after the scream she'd just heard, "Zykan, you had better not be dead!"

"Shit, shit shit! Zykan! If you're dead, you little ass, I'm going after you into the afterlife and kicking your ass all the way back up to the rest of us!" Damien said, finally finding the right door, "fuck!" he hissed, "nothing."

"Damien!" Azuril slowed to a walk until she was standing next to him, "where is he?"

"I don't know. Dammit!"

"Blaming yourself will get you nowhere. There is nothing you could have done even if you had been there. Apparently, we are becoming more 'alive' for lack of better word, in this time period. We must find him, and leave. We can be seen, I believe their ability to hear us is slowly forming. I do not know if they can do us any harm, but we can touch them."

"How do you know this?" Damien raised an eyebrow, then blanched at her rather blunt answer, it did do some damage though...

"earlier, while looking for you, I came across a very awkward situation in one of the rooms over there and in the end, I was chased around this floor by the enraged 'customer'. I didn't bother to pause in my escape to test the theory of their weapons doing me any harm, I did, however, find out about our ability to affect them. If you are looking for a shorter, more blunt, answer, I finally lost my temper and shot him." she said, then she smirked a bit at the look on Damien's face,

"you scare me sometimes."

"Damien!" Miko yelled from down the hall, "where's Zykan!"

"Funny you should worry about that. We don't know." he said, Miko raised an eyebrow,

"'we'?" Azuril stepped away from Damien a bit, out of the shadows more, thus making her visible. "Oh." Miko said, Bobby, Skayr and Annakhin exchanged a knowing look. Pardoner wriggled free of Annakhin's hold and ran for Azuril, who picked him up, held him for a second, then allowed him to climb up onto her shoulder, she suddenly looked distracted, depressed, and guilty.

"What's wrong?" Damien asked, she shook her head,

"nothing. It is nothing."

"Azuril..." but he stopped, he wouldn't force it, "let's go find the freak-"

"hold!" Skayr said, running into the room next to them, she bent down and managed to pull Zykan's scythe out from under the bed, "he is disarmed, weaponless. Will they fight fairly?"

"Well, I damn well hope so." Damien said, leading the group out of the bar,

once they got outside, the first thing they didn't want to happen happened, Annakhin bumped into someone. She didn't pass through him, nor did she not feel it, he seemed to notice too,

"watch where you're going, girl." then he kept walking.

"Wow, what a jackass." Miko said,

"be careful, my friends." Azuril said suddenly, "it appears we are now solid and completely visible to them. If we can be seen, and felt, then I'm positive they can hear us as well. And in this time period, women weren't treated like gold. They were not as independent as we all are and were forced to follow a strict set of rules, the main one, men ruled over all others, if a man said something needed to be done and you were ordered to do it, you shouldn't even hesitate in starting it. A sad system, really, but the ruling one all the same."

"Damn." Miko said,

"what about Damien? He's traveling with a bunch of girls, how're they gonna take that?" Bobby said,

"I am not sure."

"And the fact that we're not exactly dressed to fit the times." Bobby looked down at her denim duster and jeans, a large faded star was situated on the front of her shirt and she wore canvas sneakers. Skayr's clothes were even worse, a shirt that zipped in the front, zipped down to the bottom of her rib cage, bandages were the only thing she had under it, her sleeves were rolled up, her pants had been torn apart enough that they'd become more like a mini skirt, and combat style ankle boots, along with an innumerable amount of tattoos and scars, a missing right eye, scar marking proof of the gash, all made up her outfit.

"I don't think I belong very well either." she said. Miko looked down at herself, "I don't help matters much either." she said, she wore her gloves, which went up to mid-biceps, and a pair of jeans, rolled up to her knees, and a slightly gray tinted shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a tank top under it plus a pair of boots, made up her outfit.

"Annakhin at least wears a skirt or dress or something".Damien said, then all eyes were on Azuril. "Uh..."

"She's got her own wardrobe category, and I don't think it fits this time period in the least." Miko said, "Damien, your outfit doesn't fit either." Damien shrugged,

"I say we endure more odd stares, find Zykan and get the hell back to our own time period." he said, Azuril nodded,

"we will have to hurry, superstition is also a great part of this time period, strangers are not very welcome." she said,

"and if they think we're odd, we'll have to find Zykan before he's killed, he's the most inhuman thing in our group." Skayr said. They nodded, then Bobby looked at Annakhin,

"isn't there some way you can use that seal to track him down or something?" she said, Annakhin shrugged.

"I can try."she folded her hands in front of her, closed her eyes and started to concentrate solely on Zykan, finally, the symbol on his choker, which held the most power out of all of his adornments, it being the thing Annakhin had put the spell on to control him further, appeared, followed by several snaps of pictures, most likely of his surroundings, appeared. "He's locked in a cell. The building should be easy enough to find, it says 'Jail House' on it. And there's someone sitting outside tying knots in a rope." Azuril spazzed, then started looking around frantically,

"what's up?" Bobby asked, Azuril spared her a short glance,

"they're preparing to kill him. I told you strangers are not welcome in this time period. He was the one in the most danger from the beginning...we should have guessed that." suddenly, Pardoner jumped off of Azuril's shoulder, running down the street, "Pardoner, wait!" she cried, running after him, Damien snatched the end of her cape,

"what are you doing! Leave the cat for now! We need to find Zykan." he said, but his only answer was her unbuckling the cape, letting it fall away from her, then bolting down the street after her cat.

"Pardoner! Pardoner! Where did you run of to? Pardoner!" she was walking now, looking around, ignoring the odd and somewhat frightened stares she was receiving, looking from side to side, "Pardoner, come out. Where are you?" she said, finally sighing loudly and acknowledging several people, she looked at a pair of women standing near her, they jumped when she did so, "did you notice a small black kitten run through here?" one woman shook her head, the other just kept staring, "does something you see frighten you? My best guess is that I am the one who is the cause, .if I am, then my apologies." she said, then she walked away from them. Next she tried several children, that proved to be a bad idea when the boys wanted to play with her gun, or arm, and the girls wanted to play with her hair. "I now remember why I hate children..." she mumbled as she walked away, finally, she tried the opposite gender, maybe they'd respond to her better than the women had, and hopefully better than the children had, she might not be able to knock several men out at one time, if she was shooting them, then she would, but keeping them alive was normally not her strong point, even though I finally killed someone back in the saloon...will I be able to get over that? Well, you know what they say; 'after you've done it once, you'll have no trouble or regret doing it again.. she thought, then she found herself by a hitching post, a large black horse in front of her, part of her mind started jumping around madly, a Friesian! A Friesian! Ooo, my favorite type of horse! she reached out slowly and touched its neck, when it didn't spaz she started petting it, so soft.. And it's so well taken care of...whoever owns this animal is one lucky son of a bitch. 

"hey, get away from my horse!" a, half-drunken, voice shouted from near by, a man who was sober enough to walk and talk coherently walked over to her, "what're you doin to my horse?"

"Nothing." she answered flatly, "you reek of stale alcohol. You should take a rest and break from it for a while, you may live through heavy drinking that way." he blinked a bit, looking confused, then he said possibly the stupidest thing Azuril thought she'd hear,

"you're a woman." she resisted the urge to hit him

"yes. I am. You're a genius." she said, trying to keep her voice neutral, her eye twitched slightly.

"Women shouldn't be out ridin horses, or snappin at men, they should be inside, especially the saloon."

"Pig."

"What'd you say!"

"I said 'pig', you are a disgusting, sexist pig." then she stepped back a bit, right out of his reach when he tried to hit her, "a pig with no balance."

"Shut up."

"I don't enjoy taking orders from strangers."

"You shouldn't be snapping at me anyways, you shouldn't be carryin a gun, or ridin a horse or snappin at people, you should be inside, listenin to what yer told to do, waitin for customers." she stopped moving,

"what did you-" he finally got a hit in, backhanding her, she staggered a bit, hand covering the dark bruise already forming on her cheek where he'd hit her, she winced slightly, then straightened up, glaring, "waiting to sell ourselves out as possessions for some small amount of pay? I knew women could be stupid, but I'd forgotten just how stupid we could get. Pathetic." she said, she wasn't quite mad enough to pop yet, and she decided she'd not drag this out and test limits. "I suggest you apologize and walk away, you will regret it if you do not." he just snapped at her about their sexist society more, finally, as opposed to waiting that last tiny little bit of push to get her to change into the Galian Beast, she pulled her gun out, obviously very fat, he stared at it in shock, "yes, it's a gun, I am sure you have a holster and gun in one of your saddlebags, though I would suggest carrying it around with you more often. And, yes, continue to speak to me in the manner you have been using, I will shoot you. Now, I have a very simple question to ask, since I now have an audience..." she looked around, a small crowd had gathered and they were waiting for her to just haul off and shoot him. "I want to know if you've seen my cat. He's small, completely black and will answer to the name 'Pardoner'." several seconds of silence went by, "fine." she aimed at his forehead, tensing up to fire, but something brushing up against her leg stopped her. She looked down, put her gun away, picked up her cat, and walked away, leaving the crowd confused, she then heard several whispered remarks about sanity, or lack there of, attitude, wardrobe, appearance, the most popular being her left arm, and finally,

"she should be headed for the gallows with that demon from earlier." suddenly, the poor person had Azuril yanking him towards her by the collar of his shirt,

"what demon?" she said, Pardoner took his seat on her shoulder, just incase she ended out using both hands and forgot she was holding him,

"someone caught a boy in the saloon with eyes that weren't human, he was covered in tattoos and charms-"

"where is he now?"

"In the jail house, right over there, they're getting ready to have a preacher try to send him back to Hell, if that doesn't work, they're hanging him-ack!" she dropped him and he fell on his ass, without another word, she was running to find either Damien or the jail house, whichever she came across first. She found Damien first, relayed what she'd heard, then let Bobby yell at her for a few minutes for scaring the general public.

"Ok, that's good, she's got the message." Damien said, grabbing Azuril by the shoulders and pulling her back, away from Bobby, "let's go find Zykan before they kill him." then he ran for it, leaving the girls standing there for a second, Bobby was blinking rapidly, staring at the spot where her friend had once been standing, then she looked at Azuril, who blinked a bit, allowed Pardoner to crawl back up onto her shoulder after jumping down into her arms to escape Damien.

"What just happened?" Miko said

"I think Zykan's prodding at him earlier, along with built up stress, is finally starting to make him crack." Bobby said

"whatever, let's go." Skayr said, running after Damien, Azuril the next to follow. Bobby then turned to Miko and gave her a look, she could practically feel the jealousy,

"grow the fuck up and cool your damn jets." she said, then she and Annakhin followed after Skayr, Azuril and Damien, Miko watching for a second, then running after them.

"Well, isn't this lovely, nice decor you've got going for ya." Zykan said, slightly pissed, slightly worried for his own life. He was looking around the cell they'd put him in, "damn the fact that I can't use any tricks, Missy said 'not even one trick', so, I'm stuck, dammit." he sky rocketed when someone hit the bars of his cell, making quite a loud noise, "Jesusrich! What the hell-!"

"Shut up in there, you got no right to even be here." the man that had been, basically, guarding Zykan's cell snapped, Zykan blew a raspberry at him, then flipped him off,

"I'll do as I please, thank you much." he said, sounding slightly offended, "you're the jackass here, buddy." shortly after that comment was made, he gave a yelp and jumped up onto the ceiling, just early missing getting shot, "Fuck!" he snapped, "get an anger management therapist!" then he ended out dodging more bullets, ending out back in place on the ceiling, "ha, ha, you ran outta ammo!" he teased, smirking when his, apparently easily angered, guard had to dig around for more bullets, "I really hope he doesn't find any, there are enough people standing outside, looking in, damn them, to make me wish I was back in that bracelet-waah!" there was a pulse that went through his body, making him dizzy for a second. Enough time for him to lose track on where he was and fall off of the ceiling, making a small noise when he hit the ground, "what the clutter fuck was that!"

click

the noise came from directly behind him, he sat up slowly, then turned around, also taking it slow, and stared at the gun that was being aimed at him, then he crawled back, away from the gun, and leaned back against a wall, resting leisurely, "it's not my usual spot, but, it'll do." he said, closing his eyes and, on reflex, wrapped his robe around himself tighter, no point in showing off every little marking on him. "I just hope Damien can me before this takes a turn for the worst." a couple minutes of relaxation went by, before the sound of the cell door opening could be heard. He looked up fast, pupils slightly dilated from sleep, they slowly narrowed themselves up again, thus giving him the ability to see clearly again, "what now?" he still sounded mostly asleep, and he wasn't happy about his nap being cut short. There was no verbal answer, just someone yanking at his robe, most likely trying to yank him to his feet, that didn't work. The robe, too loose and big for him, was only yanked off, leaving him sitting still, tensed and paranoid style freaked out, "oh, shit. Please don't let them figure it out, please don't let them figure it out-" his voiced mental mantra was cut short when there was a small yelp from outside the cell, he looked in the direction of the noise, then started swearing rapidly, apparently the priest did some reading on old spells and magic, the only thing Zykan could figure about that knowledge was that some of the books had pictures of a few of the charms or tattoos in them. "I am in seriously deep shit." he said, eyes wide, "this can be worked out, sans bodily harm, hopefully on both of our sides." he said nervously, holding his hands up, making sure they knew he had nothing to hurt them with him. He just went into a swearing fit again, in several languages, when he was yanked to his feet by the collar of his tunic, "I said we can reach a mutual!" he cried desperately, he didn't like the idea of figuring out his own limits in the 'kill me factor' list. He gagged when he was dragged out of the jail house by the tails of his choker. (it's just a long, thin strip of leather, when tightened, while being wrapped around something, there's a lot left hanging there, gimme a break, ok.) On the way out, he managed to snatch his robe away from the earlier moron who'd accidently yanked it off him, "thank you." he said, dark sarcasm used in that statement, he narrowed his eyes and glared dangerously at some of the spectators when he was dragged out of the jail house, "and just what, pray tell, are you staring at, y'freaks?" he snapped, pulling his robe back on, then gagging again when the hold on his choker was yanked on harder. "Where are those losers? I need my ass saved." he muttered, looking around in an attempt to see any familiar faces, none were there. His nervousness took a jump up to the beginnings of fear, I might actually die here. Ok, I admit it, but never out loud, I'm scared. I'm death and evil incarnate, and I'm scared of this situation. I don't wanna die... 

"You didn't happen to get a location as to where the jail house might be from that poor individual you were torturing, did you, Azuril?" Damien said, she shook her head,

"I didn't think to. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, it isn't your fault." Damien said, glancing at her for a second, "hey, where did your cat run off to earlier?"

"I don't know. But I am glad he led me on such a chase. If he hadn't, we wouldn't know Zykan's current situation."

"You've got a bruise on your cheek." Skayr noted,

"yes. There was a small argument had with a near drunken man. I walked away with Pardoner before I could shoot him."

"You're just damned trigger happy, aren't you?"

"I prefer to think of it as 'overly cautious'."

"Well, don't be too 'overly cautious', or I'll take your gun away again." Damien said, she made a derisive noise, but didn't respond otherwise.

"Look! A crowd!" Skayr said, pointing ahead of them, "that freak must be in there somewhere."

"Let's haul ass again." Damien said, the three of them not waiting for Bobby, Annakhin and Miko to catch up as they started shoving through the crowd. Damien pushing past people with only enough force to move them, unlike Skayr, who was knocking any and everyone in her way off to the side, she wanted to leave quick, so she'd screw over politeness even more than she normally did.. Azuril was trying to weave around people, she still didn't have her cape which meant that it was harder to avoid people seeing her left arm, and she didn't want to start shoving people using a clawed metal hand.. The trio picked up the pace when they heard shouting from ahead of them, very familiar shouting.

"God damn it, I told you already, I am not the devil! Nor am I his damn offspring! Now get the fucking hell away from me! Let go! I said let fucking go of me damn you!"

"Zykan!" Damien yelled hoping his friend had heard him over the crowd, he had.

"Damien? Damien, where the hell are you! Get me out of here, they're trying to kill me!-ow! Shit you, preacher man! Fuck off!"

"Ah, god damn it!" Damien seethed, then he heard some more familiar shouting, Skayr had joined the fray.

"Zykan, you little freak, how the hell did you manage to get caught by these weaklings?"

"Well, excuse me, little miss 'I think I'll beam people with random blunt objects until they bend to my will'! It was a cheap shot, damn you, woman!"

"When Azuril catches up, I'm demanding she shoot you."

"You wouldn't!"

"Try me, freak."

"You are a fine one to talk!"

"Guys, shut the hell up!" Damien yelled, "this is not the arguing part, this is the hauling ass part!" then he paused, "hey, where is Azuril?" then there was a single gun shot from off to Damien's left, he turned to look while the crowd was splitting and rapidly dispersing, Azuril was standing there, gun pointed at the sky, "warning shot..."

"Now, I believe you will listen when I ask you to move. Stay out of my way." Azuril snapped, great, she was crabby.

"This won't end well...Skayr!" when he turned to look at where Skayr and Zykan were, he blanched and hid his face behind his hands, "god, Skayr...put that poor man down and get off that man's head..." Skayr dropped her hold on one of the men up on the platform, he fell off the side, laid there for a second, then made a break for it. She looked down at the man she had pinned under her foot,

"but he talks too much." she said, Zykan then popped in his comment,

"he's the one that kept shoving this in my face," he held up a crucifix, "and calling me the spawn of Satan. Please can she step on his head a little longer."

"No! Now get off of him!" Skayr huffed and stepped back, shoving the man off of the platform with her foot "god help me..."

"Damien, we should go." Azuril said, walking over to him, returning her gun to its holster, Skayr and Zykan jumped down off of the platform and ran over to the pair, the others catching up.

"We missed the show." Bobby joked.

"I'm so glad you're alright. I was worried." Annakhin said, Zykan shrugged,

"I think it'll take more than that to kill me. I don't know though, I've never bothered to try to figure out what will and will not kill me." then he ducked Azuril's gun when she whipped it out and pointed it at where his head had been, "what the hell-!"

"Shut up." she said, "don't speak..." she was watching something closely, looking quite nervous, when they finally looked they noticed where her nervousness had come from,

"um, damn...that's a lotta guns..." Zykan said, looking around, almost everyone who owned a gun or had access to one seemed to be standing around them, poised and ready to shoot them.

"It's like facing an army..." Annakhin said, "oh!" then she took Zykan's scythe from Miko and passed it off to its owner, "don't kill them." was all she said, he smirked, then disappeared, half of the 'wall of guns' went down, that set the others off, Damien blocking what he could with his sword, Bobby, dove in front of him, holding up her boomerang, the bullets hit the surface and bounced right off.

"Geez! When do you think they'll run out of ammo!" Damien said, Bobby shook her head,

"I don't know. But, I vote we stay alive long enough to find out." she said, Annakhin was using some magic to put up a shield around herself, Miko and Skayr, who had no weapon remotely for long distance fighting. Azuril, on the other hand, was crouched down, hiding Pardoner, and using up all of her ammo, slowly, but effectively.

my hit count's sky rocketing...it does get easier and easier the more you kill someone... she thought, then she found a use for her metal arm, she unconsciously raised it to shield herself from a few bullets, that bounced right off of it. She blinked a bit, then looked at her arm for a second, cool. she then started shooting people again, deciding to move back a bit, even closer to her friends, "Annakhin, where is Zykan?"

"I don't know, he's running rampant with the only restriction being not to kill anyone."

"Keep track of him, remember, without him, we are trapped here. And," She picked up Pardoner, "please..." Annakhin took the kitten from her, that made things a little easier, then something shot past them, with the fact that everyone in front of them went down after that, they figured they'd found Zykan...

"Zykan, hold still!" Azuril said, she was rewarded with the epitome of evil skidding to a stop in front of her, then overbalancing and falling over.

"Ouch. What?"

"Stay here, make sure you don't die, and concentrate all of your energy into one spot, then think solely of your time period."

"The one we came from? If I think of my time period we'll be stuck in the beginning of time."

"Yes. Now do it." Azuril said, shooting off to the side, ignoring the fact that she'd just hit someone.

"Whatever you say."

"Shouldn't we put him in a shield so he doesn't get hit?" Damien said, Azuril shook her head,

"I don't know how that will affect the power he needs to get us home."

"Whatever."

"Damien, look out!" Miko screamed, he started to turn around to see what she was screaming about, but was stopped by Skayr shoving him hard off to the side, Bobby stared, horrified, for a second as her friend was hit with several bullets, falling back and landing on Azuril, then she swung around and threw her boomerang as hard as she could, taking out almost all of the remaining fire power. When she caught her boomerang, she swung it back over her shoulder and ran over to Skayr, Azuril finally getting herself out from under the other girl, then she started examining the damage,

"is she stable enough to get through whatever it is Zykan's gonna dish out?" she asked, Azuril nodded,

"she will make it through if he hurries."

"Move your ass, Zykan!"

"You try doing this!"

"I don't care about your whining, just move it along!"

"Fine!" after several minutes of concentrating, a black glowing pentagram appeared under Zykan, "hey, I can't go any higher! The seal's holding it down!" he yelled, a wind was rising, circling them. He looked at Annakhin, "lift the seal! Around my neck, I need the power!" she hesitated, but in the end she weakened it greatly, she wasn't going to take any seal off of him completely, his power was still too terrible and unstable for him to be let loose. He took what he could get, gave one last boost of power and they vanished.

"Skayr, look at me! Talk to me, Skayr! Skayr!" Bobby cried frantically, Skayr was out cold, Damien and Annakhin were doing their best at trying to stop her bleeding, Azuril, Zykan and Miko stood in silence, watching their friends,

"I wish there was something we could do..." Miko said, Zykan and Azuril nodded.

"If the bullets had gone all the way through, this would be much easier, but firearms from that period weren't very well made, nor were the bullets, they did do some considerable damage, though." Azuril said, Zykan looked at her,

"you know about those things?" he said, she nodded,

"not much, but yes."

"Then go help. Even a tiny bit of info is better than none." he said, pointing to where his friends were, she sighed, then walked over to where Skayr lay,

"stopping the bleeding and bandaging her up will do no good. The bullets must be removed, they will only cause further problems, problems even her altered body will not be able to handle." Bobby looked at Azuril,

"then you do something!"

"Fine." she knelt down next to Skayr, looking her over, finally, she gathered up enough resolve and dug down into one of the wounds with her left hand, Skayr hissed from the pain and Bobby went to pull Azuril back, only stopping when the other girl tossed a bullet off to the side, "this can be tended to now." she repeated that process two more times, finally standing up and backing away, grabbing up a cloth to wipe the blood off of her left hand/claw/whatever.

"That was gross." Miko said,

"but effective." Zykan pointed out, "nice job."

"Yeah, you really did help us out there." Bobby said, then she continued bandaging Skayr's wounds.

"You really were a big help. I'm glad you stepped up like that." Annakhin said, knowing that Azuril probably hadn't wanted to do that. Pardoner mewed and brushed his head across her cheek several times, she patted his head lightly, then looked straight forward when Damien spoke up,

"thanks. Even if you probably hate hearing it from all of us, you were a literal lifesaver."

"Thank you." she said, then she sat down next to the fire, putting Pardoner on her lap, petting him once he'd settled himself down. I'd do it for any one else too. 

a week went by with them not moving on, finally, Skayr was up and moving, even well enough to grab Zykan's scythe and try to kill him with it for taking her dessert-chocolate seemed to be the only thing he'd eat aside from some meats and toast. He still snuck off every night, no excuses now, he'd just up and walk away into the shadows, he'd pop up again a while later, no lame story, just a simple walk back into camp and jump into a tree to sleep.

"Zykan, where do you go every night?" Miko asked, she was helping Skayr change her bandages, though Skayr was healing rapidly enough for her to need less and less treatment by the day, she was right, her body was different, she didn't get hurt half as easily as everyone else, nor did any injury she might sustain take a long time to heal. Zykan twitched from up on his branch,

"none of your business, woman." he said, Annakhin opened her mouth to say that one overused word, but stopped,

"He's sorta right. He doesn't need to tell you if he doesn't want to."

"Let it die, Miko. You ask him every night, and you still get brushed off." Damien said, leaning against a large rock, Azuril was sitting on top of the rock with Pardoner sleeping on her cape, which she'd taken off and folded up next to her. Bobby was sitting across the fire from Miko and Skayr, Zykan was off to her right a ways, Annakhin sitting practically under him. Miko huffed, finally finishing with Skayr's bandages, then she leaned back against a tree, Skayr simply curling up near the fire.

"Fine, I'll let it alone. I'm still curious though."

"I think we all are." Damien said, "but, he's too complex to even try to figure out. We'll live in the dark on that one." Bobby looked at Azuril,

"You seem distracted, what's up?"

"Merely thinking. Nothing more." Azuril said, Bobby shrugged, then went back to poking the fire with a stick. thinking...yeah...that's rich. I'm trying not to fall asleep. If I do, I'll either fall on Pardoner, fall on my face, or fall on Damien. All three are 'no no's. It seems like these guys are becoming more and more like themselves to me, instead of me thinking they're my friends from home, or my family from home...Clare's a different story...that isn't someone who resembles Clare, that is Clare. She juiced herself up and went psycho-evil on me...I'm beginning to think I'm more like Cloud than I am Vincent...well, there'll be more twists and turns along the way, I know there will be...and I know they'll all be attempts to break me... 

"Azuril?" it was Damien. She looked down at him, he was looking up at her with a slightly confused expression on his face,

"yes?"

"Just checking. You weren't talking when we were trying to ask you some questions a second ago and I kinda worried, for a second, that you'd somehow-"

"Relapsed into shock again?" she finished for him, he nodded, "no, I'm fine. I am slightly lost in thought, but otherwise fine."

"Alright. That's good. Like I said, you had me worried." he said, giving her a tiny smile, she returned the expression then went back to her thoughts,

Angela, try as hard as you want, bitch, I won't break, not for you, not for anyone. Not while I have something to care for and protect... she looked at her friends, then down at Damien, not while I still have someone who cares for me. 

another shock to Azuril's system came several days later when her sister showed up again,

"What is it now, you annoying brat?" Skayr snapped, cracking her knuckles, Bobby had a good grip on her boomerang, Zykan's scythe was held out in front of him like a staff, that stance gave him better lift when he attacked, but at that point Annakhin was behind him, he wasn't moving. Miko's fists were up and she looked pissy, she'd had enough of Azuril's sister for one life time, and she wanted her out of the way. Damien's sword was out and Azuril's hand was on her gun, ready to draw it if necessary. Clare smirked,

"so, you're finally ready to attack instead of run, sister? Well, bravo, that's a big step for you. I hope you live through it, so you can watch me kill your friends one by one."

"An empty threat, thrown like a feather in the wind, sister." Azuril said, "we both know that you were not sent to kill us, you never were. I thought about it for some time, and realized, she wants me to finish this game of hers. She wants me to make it through to the end, you won't kill me because you don't feel like it. You won't kill me because that's what you were told to do. Am I wrong?" Clare was silent, "I also realized, that means she cannot kill my friends against the story's whim. She must stick to the storyline of the game she is mimicking, it is what she planned on from the beginning, it is what was making it fun and drawing it out. My friends are safe, as am I. You have no purpose in being here, save for filling an empty roll. You've no business with us now that I am finally aware of what is going on. Go back to her, tell her of my enlightenment.."

"And send my love." Damien said mockingly, flipping Clare off. All of them dawned confused looks when Clare started snickering,

"you're right about some of that. I can't kill you, purposely, but there's one thing you forgot, the rest of the characters' roles and how they relate to me." she said, smirking still. Azuril's eyes widened in horror, she'd forgotten about that, some of her friends would die along the way, some of her friends would be hurt along the way, and, more importantly, some of her friends, one of her friends, will get into continual fights with Clare's character, fights that were to the death one way and til retreat the other.

"No. Don't." she half whispered, still partly in shock, "You can't hurt them, please!" she cried, bearing it when her sister started laughing, "I won't let it happen." she ducked in front of her friends and whipped out her gun, aiming at Clare, "do you remember last time? I said I would not hold back. Even if I have to kill you." Clare watched her silently,

"you won't pull the trigger. No matter how much you want to, no matter how much you might need to. You won't be able to do it." Azuril's arm was shaking, she was right, Clare was right.

she's right. I could never shoot you...no matter what, I think...damn it! she lowered the gun, arms hanging limply at her sides, "you are right, I could never kill a family member, no matter what I was forced to say...I could not do it." she looked over her shoulder quick, "I can, however, pray that that shred of memories in your mind has, at least, one small memory of a point in time when we were truly sisters. I remember many times. But I am not the one who needs to be reminded. Please, try at least." Clare made a small hacking noise,

"that was just sappy. That was something you would have either laughed at or run from back home. You and I, as sisters, are not why I came here. I came for a good fight, and hopefully, a good win. Now, who is it that I'm supposed to kill first?"

"Don't, Clare. Stop."

"Well, if memories serve right, from what I was told...your boyfriend over there is my main target...I can try to kill him at any point in time..."

"Clare, stop it! Don't be stupid! Just leave! Please, just go!" and he's not my boyfriend! 

"what do you mean by all that? There are people who are supposed to die out of my friends? You're nuts!" Damien snapped, Clare's smirk was back,

"oh, yeah. But, I don't think you should learn anymore. She'll know. She'll kill more of you. Cover your own ass cutie."

"Clare! Leave him be!"

"Not your boyfriend, huh? Sure seems like he is." Azuril was seething angry, her sister was acting far too much like her old self, and that was bringing out the worst in her.

"You have no right to say any of that! I do not-"

"love him? Broken record. Try something new. And something that's not a lie."

"I am starting to truly hate you, little sister. I truly am. Stay away from them!" Azuril growled, glaring, Clare pretending to be wounded, then she dove at Azuril, her replica-Masa Mune swinging around like a baseball bat. "Stop this foolishness, and leave us be!"

"No way this is fun." she paused for a second, "and, just to make sure we don't have any interruptions..." she pointed at the group that still stood behind Azuril, sending an energy pulse out, knocking all of them, save Zykan, who'd blocked it, back and onto the ground. "Shit. I forgot about you!" Zykan stuck his tongue out at her, flipping her off at the same time, she glared, he feigned fear and snickered at the look on her face,

"you suck, brat." was all he said.

"Zykan, don't be too foolish." Azuril warned, he scoffed,

"I'm allowed to use more power now, I can defend myself better, like I needed it before...your sister's slow, pissy and immature."

"I tried getting those points across to her years ago, she wouldn't listen." Azuril said, "do not treat her like a child, unless you intend to act the same as her. The character she mimics is very powerful, I do not know her limits at all." again, he scoffed,

"I'm not afraid of a brat. Remember? I scare Death with how powerful I am. She's nothing." then he made a quick block from the Masa Mune, "but I am a little nervous when it comes to that giant tooth pick..." he said, shoving her sword away from him, "can I kill her?"

"No!" Annakhin and Azuril both cried at once.

"I already told you, you're not allowed to kill anyone! Even the bad guy!" Annakhin said, Zykan gave her a look,

"you're no fun."

"She is my sister! I must try to get her back into her right mind! And, if I cannot do that, then, killing her should be my right." Azuril said. Zykan nodded, then blocked another blow,

"geez! Can I paralyze her from the mouth down!"

"Zykan!"

"Fine!"

"What are you, for real?" Clare said, Zykan blinked a bit,

"what am I?"

"Yeah, that's what I said!"

"I'm evil, but I ain't tellin you shit else!" then he pointed at her, a black flame shooting out of his fingertip at her, encircling her,

"What the!"

"Time out time for you, brat. You won't be able to put that flame out, and you won't be able to get out of that circle. Ok, bye bye." he turned towards the group, "Go!" he snapped, glancing back at Clare, "tell that bitch we caught on. Tell her she's got a lot more than some humans and altered beings to deal with, and that I swear it, even if I die doing so, I'll wipe out everything until I think she's dead." he hisses, eyes flashing with anger, then he bolted after his friends, waiting a good long time to finally let Clare loose, if she comes after us again, I'm risking death and skinning her alive! 

"Zykan, you didn't hurt her too badly, did you?" Annakhin asked, he shook his head,

"I early put a scratch on her. Just sent her out on a message run. And, I'm sorry, but, if she pops up out of nothingness any time soon, I'm risking my life and making sushi out of her!" he said angrily, she didn't respond.

"Bravo, Zykan. You saved our butts again." Damien said, it was late evening, hours after their 'sibling reunion' and Miko and Annakhin were helping Bobby make food. Skayr was asleep in a tree, Zykan was lounging on a branch in another tree, Damien was sitting across the fire from the food, watching the girls work, not much else to do. He then realized something, "where's Azuril?" he asked, looking around, Skayr cracked an eyelid a bit,

"she went for a walk, she said she wanted to clear her head a bit." she said, Damien stood up,

"Which way did she go?"

"Damien," Miko said, "she went to be alone. Let her."

"I want to talk to her about something...well, a couple somethings...where'd she walk off to?"

"I'm not sure as to her current position, but she went that way." Skayr said, pointing off to her right.

"Thanks." Damien said, running away from the group. Once he was gone, everyone's eyes were on Miko,

"don't even talk." Bobby said, "take your frustration out on the vegetables, here, start chopping."

Azuril had found some fireflies, following them, lacking too much else to do, that wasn't go back by the others. She wanted time to think, and, even though they left her alone unless absolutely necessary, she wanted to be away from the group for a bit. More accurately, she wanted to be away from Damien, he was confusing her horribly. First, his getting angry when he mentioned her name to Zykan, then his taking hold of her and getting her away from Bobby's wrath, and that dream, plus Miko's jealousy, Zykan's extra teasing and prodding as of late wasn't helping any. She was starting to wonder if he was also directing all of it at her as well. She didn't like that idea much. If he kept it all up, then she might be the one taking his advice, after spending quite sometime listening to it over and over again. Then again, why was it bad to fall in love? She stopped walking, she'd walked so far away from camp that all she could see of it was a quarter sized dot of light that was most likely the fire they'd lit up. She sighed, "how long have we been walking, Pardoner?" the kitten only mewed, batting at a firefly, she smiled, sitting down on the grass right outside of the small forest they'd settled down in the middle of, watching the kitten as he ran around, chasing fireflies, "you don't get the chance to play very much, do you? Have fun, my friend." she relaxed a bit, that was another thing she'd noticed along the way, she was always tensed up, as though waiting for someone to attack. Finally, she decided to relax a bit. pulling her knees up a bit, resting her elbows on them, cradling her chin in her hands, watching her kitten play. "This new world is changing me, Pardoner, I do not know how I acted before I came here anymore. I am only reminded when I see Zykan and the way he acts. what does that say about who I was? I remember why I was locked away. I will never forget those nightmares. I know I loved them all so much that it still hurts. But, I'm missing so much. Who was I? I'm starting to forget my name, the name that was mine so long ago." Pardoner paused in his playing to brush against her side a bit, she smiled thankfully, petting his head, after a second he ran after a firefly again, "if I forget who I used to be, would that be alright? Would that make it easier here?" she closed her eyes, "no, no, it would not. I will still know them, even if I don't know myself. Then it'll just bring me more pain when I can't figure out who they were to me, and still remember whatever pain I caused them." she opened her eyes when she felt something on her nose, a firefly had landed on it. It sat there for a bit, then left, she watched it diaper into a group of lights, blending in and vanishing from her sight. "There might be something to that..." she said quietly, "if I can finally allow myself to blend in, I may feel less confused. " Pardoner managed to catch one of the fire flies, bringing it down, and having it quickly removed from his possession, "these may not agree with you later." then she let the firefly go, he blended in as well. "One large low, and finally, a high."

"You're talking to bugs now?" came a voice from behind her, she jumped a bit, tensing back up, then relaxing when Pardoner ran at whoever it was happily,

"hello, Damien." she said, hearing Pardoner mew. Damien sat down next to her, Pardoner in his arms,

"I believe this evil little demon cat is yours." he said, setting Pardoner back onto the grass, watching him chase fireflies more. "He's got a lot of pent up energy."

"The only exercise he ever gets is running from something, running to hide, or running from Bobby. He deserves to play for a while." Azuril said, Damien was watching the kitten with detached interest, seemingly thinking, "why did you come looking for me? You know I always come back to you all." Damien gave a tiny laugh, a small grin on his face, still watching Pardoner,

"the hunter got tired of the chase and went looking for the fox on a quick solo job."

"And so you have caught the fox."

"No, I haven't." he said, she was surprised at the seriousness in his tone, "I only found her, I haven't been able to actually catch that damn fox yet." she was staring slightly wide eyed, so that was his angle in following her, to finally trap the fox.

not on your life, blondie! then she started to stand up, somewhat hastily, "if you came to find me, then you have done so. Let's go back to the group." she said, part of her brain didn't like this setting, the rest didn't like the other member of the situation being there. That one didn't want this act in the play, or part of the hunt, in this case. She was almost all the way out of there, but Damien grabbed her wrist, yanking her back down next to him, now all of her wanted out, but it didn't want to hurt Damien in its quick retreat. He held her there, keeping a firm grip on her wrist, she stared at his hand for a second, then she looked up to face him, eyes still wide, now with the small bit of fear that was starting to manifest there, but with pure shock, if there's one think Damien had never once done to this extent, to any of them, even Zykan when he wouldn't get off of the ceiling at times, was force someone down like this. She started for his hand telling herself, even if it hurt him, she needed him to let go of her, her nervousness had peaked and she didn't like it. She was shocked yet again when he managed to catch her before she had the chance to actually make contact with his arm. Now he had both of her wrists pinned. He didn't look detached and distant like she'd thought he would, he seemed fully aware of what he was doing, and that scared her. "Damien," her voice was shaking a bit, and urgent, "let go." he shook his head,

"No." then he shoved her backwards, making her fall onto her back, with him pinning her wrists above her head, kneeling over her, not touching her in any way, only pinning her wrists. "Not until you listen to me and stop running away or leaving fake trails." he paused, then let go of her wrists with one hand, the other still pinning her, and unbuckled her cape, the worst ran through her mind, but he only then used that hand to keep himself upright, positioning it next to her head, he stopped there, he didn't touch her again, "I need to see your face while I talk to you this time. I need to see all of your face this time, Azuril." he was so serious, and now seemingly frustrated and melancholic. What was he so upset about? She was the one that should be upset, she was the one pinned down. Why was he doing this? What was he really doing, or thinking of doing? Why was she so unbelievably frightened?

"Damien, please, let go." she said, now she decided to screw over the mask and just allow her face and eyes betray her with the frantic emotions coursing through her. He shook his head again,

"not until this is done and out of my hands, then I'll let go."

"Hey, can you see that?" Bobby suddenly said, standing a short distance away from camp, Skayr, Miko and Annakhin went over by her,

"see what?" Annakhin said, Bobby pointed straight ahead of her,

"that." she could just early see the situation between Damien and Azuril, when Miko let out an angry shriek and started running away from them, towards Damien, she knew she was right. "What the hell is he doing!" she snapped, but, before Miko could get too far away from them, and before Bobby could catch up to her, the last member of the group could be heard,

"oh, no, you don't." he said, never leaving his branch, he pointed at the girls, the same black flame that he'd used earlier to subdue Clare encircled the camp, "he's riding this out, whether you like it or not." he said, relaxing back, "he needs to do this. And she needs to hear it. So, even though it might just hurt me a lot doing this to you all, I can't let you interrupt them. Sorry, ladies." he said, still lounging like nothing was going on. Miko growled angrily,

"you put that out right now! I'm going over there!" she snapped, he waved his hand dismissively,

"and that's the exact reason as to why you go nowhere."

"Zykan, please, let us go help her." Annakhin said, preparing herself to say the one word he feared. Oddly enough, he shook his head, seemingly unfazed,

"like I said, even though it's gonna hurt me something awful, you guys stay here. Sorry, Missy." she sighed and sat back down under the tree he was in, he was dead-set on keeping them there, and wasn't even remotely afraid of being beaten into the dirt.

"We won't get anywhere anytime soon. He won't give up on it. He's done this before, remember, and he even knows that it'll hurt him if he doesn't follow what I ask him to do. We'll have to wait until they get back to confront them."

"Thank you."

"Zykan, damn you, let us out, we need to see if she's alright! We don't know what Damien could do to her." Bobby snapped, Zykan only shook his head,

"he ain't gonna hurt her jack-shit, Bobby, and you know it. He isn't capable of hurting any of us...save for me on occasion..."

"Well, this looks like he's capable of it!" Bobby screamed, Zykan blanched, then sat bolt upright, looking over at his two companions, he turned pale for a second, then paused, blinked a bit, and started laughing, "what the...?"

"What is so funny about her current position? Let us out." Skayr said, glaring death at him, he kept laughing,

"you...guys-you guys think he's-oh, God!" he was clutching his sides and leaning against the tree for support, he didn't want to fall, it hurt. "You are-you are-Jesus! Air! I need air! You guys are hilarious! God! Air! Can't breathe!"

"Then, they're wrong?" Annakhin said, Zykan calmed down enough to speak coherently,

"as wrong as I am sane, Missy." then he started laughing again,

"can I kill him?" Skayr asked, Bobby beamed her with her own harrisan,

"no. you can't. Besides, we don't even know if he can die."

"Amen to that, sister." Zykan said, he'd finally stopped laughing at them, "you guys are great, I want a repeat performance! Come on, one more time."

"No. Now, what's so funny?" Miko snapped,

"you! You honestly think he's trying to actually hurt her? How thick are you?" the girls looked amongst each other, realizing just how stupid they'd been a second ago, Miko still pissed, for a totally different reason, but, as usual, Zykan ignored her. "He can't even get too close to that girl without being affected-that should have been proof enough, especially that incident a while back..." he grinned Cheshire Cat style,

"yeah, yeah, we remember! Move on!" Miko snapped,

"being too close to her, being in the spotlight when she's talking to someone, and a lot of pent up stress probably helped him none over there."

"Zykan, we know what you're saying. He has it bad for her somethin' nasty, but, why's he practically on top of her over there? That's being close to her, really close to her." Bobby said,

"Oh, come one, ya bunch'a bricks!" they all gave him dirty looks, "Damien's wanted to talk to that girl for I dunno how long now. Sometimes he chickens out, other times she does a faint move."

"Gets him confused so she can get away from him? But if she knows he wants to talk to her, why doesn't she just stop and listen?" Annakhin said, Zykan looked at her,

"because it's something she doesn't want to hear. As we've been putting it; the fox was doing a damned good job of confusing the hunter, that is, until the hunter decided to go for the blunt approach. Now we'll see if he bags the prize or not."

"If he doesn't?" Skayr said, Zykan paused, he hadn't thought on that one. How would he take it if the fox managed to haul ass and run free of the hunter's pursuit?

shit. I hadn't thought about that! That bitch had better damned well say she agrees, or at least gives in to the hunter. Or I'll skim the fox alive for making my life a living hell! he thought, narrowing his eyes, watching Azuril and Damien.

"Damien-" she'd been about to ask if he'd return to his senses and get away from her, but he interrupted, the interruption making her even more nervous.

"Shut up. Just don't talk, ok?" he said tensely, she just stared,

" whatever it is you want from me, take it and go away. " she didn't realize that she'd said that out loud and not solely in her mind like she'd planned until she felt his grip on her wrists tighten, the hand next to her head balled into a fist, oh, God...! no. not him. Not this...not him... she closed her eyes and turned away, submitting ahead of time, it would just make it easier, and quicker.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I'm really not. In fact, it's a major surprise to me that you thought I would. I could never really hurt you. I just could never do it. Don't worry, I'm not even gonna touch you, save for making sure you can't claw me to death." she opened her eyes, but didn't look at him,

"why are you doing this to me, Damien? You would normally just say whatever it is that was running through your head, then leave me, all of us, confused when you don't address the statement at all after saying it. Why am I so special that you need to stop any and all of my attempts to get away? What is different this time?"

"All those other times, it was a stupid or simple thing that I had to talk with you about. But, it got more and more awkward and difficult to keep that up. Even if he was being an ass, Zykan was right from the start. I should have done this a while ago. I was stupid for avoiding it, and ever letting the hunt begin."

you were stupid to not leave me in a position to scream 'rape'? I feel so ignored... she thought bitterly, my life's going down hill, I'm starting to forget who I am/used to be, my sister's a psychopathic, juiced up, genocidal maniac, my two alter egos have been kidnaped, she left me with the ability to transform into a monster, and she let _her_ stay...the personality I've nicknamed 'Jenova'. The one I can't control, the one that can and will kill on a whim, or just because she finds it fun. Angela left me with the Galian Beast and Jenova...she's made me twice the monster Vincent was convinced he was... 

"...you"

"What?"

"I-I said I'm..." he hesitated, she blinked a bit,

WTH? 

"I said that I-I'm in love with you." he said quickly, trying to get it out before he lost his nerve. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see her reaction, I should have let her keep the cape on...at least it blocked something... 

WHAT THE BLOODY FUCKING HELL? "Damien, why-what did you-how-why would you..." she stopped babbling, then lay still, after several minutes of silence she was the one to break it. "Damien, please, let go of me." she said quietly, he winced and backed away from her, allowing her to sit up, then he quickly stood up, she followed, slower, he still wouldn't look at her,

"you should find Pardoner, he normally never leaves your side." he said quietly,

"Damien, why love someone like me? Why not Miko? She loves you deeply-" she stopped talking while she bent down to pick up Pardoner, who had come to her quickly, as though he'd heard and understood Damien. "I'm not deserving of anyone's affections. Everything about me is too far gone to save."

"It doesn't matter. You're wrong, but, it doesn't matter. I just don't get why you keep running from people. Not everyone wants to hurt you. Some of us want to help you. Even if you think that's impossible." he said, then he started to walk away,

go after him, ya stupid shit! her brain snapped at her, she put Pardoner down and ran after Damien, Pardoner following. "Damien!"

"What? What would you like to rub in my face now?"

"Did you plan on asking me how I felt? Or what my real response might have been?" he was clearly confused, "ask me."

"What is it that you feel for me? Do you hate me now? Or are you trying not to laugh or cry?" he said, then he waited for her response.

Zykan was tensed up, watching closely,

"Say you love him, bitch!" he hissed, not wanting to deal with Damien on a downer. The girls were watching closely, though they couldn't hear what was being said, they had guesses and applied them to the situation as it progressed. Miko getting angrier and angrier with each passing second those two spent together. Bobby and Skayr watched her twitch from anger several times, then they looked at each other,

"do you own a tranqu gun?" Bobby asked Skayr, who shook her head,

"just a large assortment of blunt objects."

"That'll work. We need to keep her from murdering those two when they get back here."

"Yes. Most defiantly."

"What do you feel about me?" Damien asked, Azuril only hesitated for that one moment in time when she decided on something to do for her reaction, a reaction that she knew would need to last forever, not just for that one moment,

this is definetly a crucial one...can I do this? how do I say it to him? How will I get this out without somehow ruining the rest of both our lives...? she moved forward a bit, yeah, this is crucial alright...he's shaking, is he that nervous? Or is he worried I'll just leave him in pain? I'm starting to act more like a woman my age should...I'm making a life long decision, and I know this is what I want. I know it. It's just...how I want it to end... "Damien, I..." she stood in silence for a minute, this is it... then she walked towards him, stopping when she was about a foot away from him, this is how it ends. then she dove at him, hugging him, letting the tears she didn't know were there fall silently, "I'm sorry." she whispered, "I played you. Made it obvious that I cared, but kept running. I'm sorry." he hugged her tightly,

"at least you cared throughout all of that. I was scared that this was the biggest mistake of my life. Like you'd diaper for good if I opened my big mouth." then he grinned a bit, "now I've caught the fox."

"The fox surrenders." Azuril said, still hanging onto him tightly, "will the hunter truly take care of the fox? Or is the fox truly as broken as it thinks it is?"

"You're not broken, you're just hurting. You aren't the kind of person to be broken. You weren't when I found you and you aren't now. So don't think that. You're not the horrible creature you think you are. You're just not." she looked at him, face to face,

"thank you, Damien. Thank you for all of this. Everything here. Everything I've seen, done and felt. Thank you." he grinned then seemed to hesitate on something, finally leaning in to kiss her, she met him half way, wow. And I said I'd totally never fall for this guy. But, that was before he was truly himself to my mind. Now, I fully know he's a real and separate person from who he resembles, he's a different person, and he's a person who loves me.. 

Miko was bright red from anger, knuckles white with how hard she had her fists clenched, she was glaring at the pair far off from them, Bobby was watching them with a smirk, Skayr was holding her harrisan, ready for Miko, and grinning as she watched them. Annakhin was smiling happily,

"I'm so happy they finally got this sorted out. I'm so happy for them." she said, Zykan looked slightly green and nauseous

"Ugh! I said 'go say you love her', not 'go make me wanna barf'!"

"You don't eat anyway, why are you complaining?" Bobby said,

"I eat! Meat and anything sugary." he said defensively, Skayr gave him a flat look,

"you're helping yourself none, imp." he flipped her off.

"I'll. Kill. Her!" Miko seethed through clenched teeth, "she will die slowly and painfully. And I will relish it greatly."

"You are a very unpleasant individual, y'know that?" Zykan said, she glared at him, he brushed her off and fell asleep.

"I hate him!"

"'hate' is such a strong word." Bobby said,

"how about 'loath'?"

"Nope." she shook her head a bit to accompany her answer.

"'Dislike with a great and strong passion'?"

"I'll let that slide." she said after a few seconds of looking thoughtful.

"Good. Because it's true."

"You're just inhumanly jealous because he's happy finally and it isn't with you." Bobby said, Annakhin and Skayr nodded.

"Jealousy is a wretched thing among humans. It turns friends against friends, brothers against brothers, and so on. It's a foolish emotion, it makes you seem rather ignorant, stupid and childish as well." Skayr said, Annakhin gave Miko a slightly shocked look,

"you don't want Damien to be happy? I thought you were his friend." she said, confused. Miko stared at the trio wide eyed, then, even Zykan put her on the spot,

"y'know, I think you've done ten times as much work at trying to keep those two away from each other than you have actually trying to get closer to Damien yourself. Kinda stupid, if ya ask me."

"And for once," Bobby said, "we did."

"Yay, I've been included in conversation in a positive way." he said, fake enthusiastic. "But, really, I say again, so much of your time was spent trying to keep Azuril away from Damien, and trying to figure out ways to do just that, that you never bothered to even try getting closer to your little lover-boy. Skayr, I second your earlier statement totally. Humans are just flippin weird." then he went back to sleep.

The sorting out of the situation went rather fast, Skayr beat Miko's head in with her harrisan before the girl could even get a word in. ("Well," Damien said, "whatever works." everyone nodded their agreement) several blissful weeks without disturbance followed, Zykan being excused every now and then to 'vomit it's so sickeningly sweet around here', as he'd put it. Damien had taken his chance at revenge, teasing and tormenting Zykan about his success constantly, Annakhin's voice was nearly taken from her because of how many 'down's she was dishing out, Bobby and Skayr were doing a damned good job of keeping Miko in line, and away from Azuril, and Azuril spent most of her time watching the others, or playing with Pardoner, sometimes both at once. Bobby continued her nightly attacks on Pardoner while the kitten stole some meat for his dinner, then bolted for Azuril, they were always fun to watch, especially when Azuril calmly and cooly told Bobby off, then lose interest in her in favor of Pardoner. Miko glared coldly at Azuril,

"every night you have something flip to say to tell her off. Doesn't that bother you that you can insult your friends so easily? Or don't you care? now that you've got a crutch to lean on-" Azuril wasn't positive if Miko had kept talking or not, she was sure of some sort of memory connected to that phrase, though. 'A crutch to lean on' you pull all of your weight on a crutch, depending on it to keep you up when you're afraid you'll fall. In a way she was right, Azuril did depend on Damien, but she figured he felt the same of her. He could stand partly on his own, but he needed help, someone there for him to keep him standing. She could take care of herself, but there was that large place inside her that needed to be filled to balance her out, she needed support and help as much as the next person. She depended on him for that, she thought of Damien as her support. He was a friend, and more to her. As long as she had him there to either catch her or at least help her get back up if she fell, she'd go on. Crutch or no crutch, she'd move forward. She snapped out of her thoughts when Damien spoke up,

"Miko, cut it out. I know you hate her now, but don't put her through this stuff daily, don't put all of us through it daily."

"Try hourly." Zykan said from the branch he'd found to lounge on, Annakhin just sighed and shook her head, in most cases, she'd given up on using her spell to try to get him to rein in his mouth, he just kept using it anyway. Now she only used the spell when she was angry, or when it was necessary for the situation.

"Zykan, though I'm sorry to say that you have somewhat of a point, that's not very nice."

"Fine. I'll shove it for now-hey! You gonna eat that?" he said, eyes lighting up, figuratively, though they had done so literally at times, when he snatched the remainder of a chocolate cake away from Annakhin, who had been handing it up to him. "Bobby, if there's one think I love you for, it's your cooking. You kick ass." he said, then he was lost to the rest of the world as he ate the cake.

"Well, at least I'm loved." Bobby said, shrugging. Skayr was looking at Zykan,

"I can just hear his arteries hardening." she muttered, Annakhin and Bobby shrugged a bit,

"true that." Bobby said.

"Now, I'll need to work with him on proper eating habits..." Annakhin muttered miserably.

"Chill, guys. Let him enjoy himself, remember, without him, we'd be dead right now. He deserves some quiet time with his desert...though I didn't see him eat anything for dinner again..."

"He took his trip into the shadows during dinner, he won't be leaving anymore tonight...I think." Azuril said, Miko and Skayr sagged,

"aw, man, my life just keeps getting worse!" Miko whined,

"as does mine." Skayr said.

"Grow up, drama queens." Bobby said, throwing a large soup spoon at Skayr, and a spatula at Miko, "Skayr, can you taste test for me?" she paused, "clean the spoon off first."

"Isn't it called a ladle?" Miko said, rubbing her head where the spatula has hit her. Bobby shrugged,

"dunno, honestly, don't care. Now, gimme my spatula."

"Ladle, Ladle, Ladle! I made it out of clay! Ladle, Ladle, Ladle! I broke it the first day!" damn you, Clare, you got your stupid song stuck in my head! Azuril thought, a tiny smile drifted across her face, but it didn't stay long, no expression or emotion every did. She'd only let her guard down several times since she'd woken up, but she tried her best to keep them away from the surface. The song made her think of almost every time they had spaghetti and their mother wanted them to taste the sauce, Clare would sing that song the instant the word 'Ladle' was mentioned. She was glad, at least, that Bobby wasn't making spaghetti. She was making soup.

"That's the tenth night in a row we've had soup of some freak kind." Zykan said, "can't you make anything else anymore?"

"I'll be able to once we get to town tomorrow and buy more food stuffs."

"Whatever."

"not the soup!" "No more soup!" "Ack! No, don't hurt the squirrels!" Lisa and I never did finish that story... she paused mid-thought, Lisa..._ "she committed suicide right after the funeral for you, and you were still alive when she did so the entire time. You were the cause of her suffering, and you could easily have changed that, but you didn't, you as good as killed her yourself." _...Lisa! she made a small noise in protest to the fact that she'd just made herself cry, the noise got Damien, Skayr and Zykan's attention, Skayr and Zykan because of altered levels of the senses.

"What the hell?" Zykan said, the other girls looked up,

"What is it?" Bobby said,

"over there." Skayr pointed across the fire from where she and Bobby sat, Azuril had pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapped her arms around them, then hid her face on them, the could tell she was crying, Pardoner was mewing and rubbing against her, but she wasn't budging

"What the..." Bobby started, then she stopped, "I can't go over there."

"Why?" Skayr said,

"she's probably remembering something, I can't go and disturb her memories with a face identical to one of them. I think she'd snap."

"But that means none of us can go over there." Miko said, Damien didn't care for that. He kept his seat next to her, then touched her shoulder lightly, her head snapped up and she looked around wide eyed for a second, finally she dove at Damien, latching onto him as tightly as she could, still avoiding her left arm, even in her current state, and continued to cry. He held onto her tightly, not really sure on what to do in a situation that he didn't know the beginning of.

"What's wrong? What happened all of a sudden? Hey, talk to me..." he said softly, she shook her head,

"I should be over this by now..." she murmured, he blinked a bit,

"so you were remembering something..." she only tightened her grip on him, "it's ok. You can cry if you want to. It'll be ok." though he sounded stable, no one missed the fact that his hands were shaking, he was nervous, afraid even. He'd been afraid of that one moment where he didn't know what to do. They knew that much, Annakhin and Bobby gave him sympathetic looks, Skayr just watched silently with no true expression on her face, Miko, though jealous still, looked worried, and full of some type of pity. Even Zykan had an empathetic look on his face, for all they knew, he could truly be an empath, no one cared to ask at that point, though.

"Damien..." Annakhin started, but nothing came to mind to say after that, so she stopped there.

"Man..." Zykan said, clearly to himself, but everyone else heard too, "that's gotta hurt something terrible..."

"You've never felt love before, Zykan..." Annakhin reminded him, "if you did know what it felt like, this'd be even worse for you to watch."

"Then I think I get it somewhat..." he said, still watching his friend, "I've seen him scared around her, I've seen him angry around her, but, until he finally talked to her, I'd never seen him happy one hundred percent around her..." he jumped down out of the tree, landing next to Annakhin, "I liked seeing him happy, angry, nervous, or anything like that, way better than this. This makes something hurt inside me, and I don't know what it is or why, but I want it to stop."

"Then Damien must be hurting a lot, if you're finally feeling something like that." Skayr said, "it is called heartache, Zykan. It comes from feeling pain or helplessness when you know your friend is suffering. It is grief, Zykan. You feel the pain and helplessness that we all feel. It will pass when his grief does."

"Well, I don't much appreciate it. But if it's necessary..." he said, crossing his arms over his chest and watching Damien, "then I guess I have to."

"We all do now." Miko said, "Love hurts." she said as the group continued to watch Damien try to calm Azuril down, both of them seemed miserable.

"I am sorry, Damien. I was childish last night at dinner..." Azuril said quietly, she hadn't talked much since she'd finally cried herself out, falling asleep from exhaustion. "I should be past those memories by now. I shouldn't have let even that name get to me..." Bobby put a hand on her shoulder,

"don't worry about it. We completely understand it all. We all have our own memories like that. It's ok." she said, the rest of the group nodded. Skayr raised an eyebrow in confusion when Azuril quickly turned away so she couldn't see the other girl.

"And myself? Why are you suddenly attempting to avoid me? Have I done something?"

"No, I apologize. You have done nothing to upset me, it's just..." _ "she committed suicide right after the funeral for you, and you were still alive when she did so the entire time. You were the cause of her suffering, and you could easily have changed that, but you didn't, you as good as killed her yourself." _ "you're so much like the girl I once knew..."

"Lisa?" Skayr said, Azuril cringed and nodded,

"there were several connections made to her at dinner last night that were too much for me, stupid connections that shouldn't have meant anything. But, I still..."

"I understand. But I cannot help what I look like or who I resemble. The pain will Eventually pass...over how much time, I do not know...but you will eventually be free of this burden." Skayr said, surprised when Pardoner made a daredevil leap from Azuril's shoulder into her arms. Azuril stopped walking abruptly, turning around fast to follow her cat, pausing and relaxing when she noticed he was safe.

"It seems he likes you. You may hold him for now, if he wishes to stay." she said, then she turned away and started walking again. Skayr shook her head slowly, as did Bobby when she walked back to her friend's side, sparing Pardoner a pat on the head.

"That girl will be difficult to handle until she forgets who she was." Skayr said quietly, Bobby shook her head,

"no. she'll never fully forget. I have a feeling she'll forget herself completely, who she was, her connections to people, the names of all of the people she knew, all of that. But, I think there's one thing she'll keep over time, the memories of her friend's faces...and of things she might have done with them, heard from them, but, she won't know who they are."

"She will completely forget herself and all else from her past life, but her friends will remain...? what of her sister?" Skayr said, Bobby shrugged,

"I'm thinking she'll just believe what she's been continually told. No matter what else she forgets, she will hear both all of us, and Clare, call that spazoid her little sister. That's what she'll hear, that's what she'll believe."

"She will unconsciously remember her sister, and remember only the faces of her friends, nothing more?"

"I'm thinkin' so." Bobby said, putting her hands in to her pockets, "she'll remember the reason why she's here, she'll remember their faces, she'll know they're important and that it causes a lot of pain to her heart whenever she remembers them, but I think she'll be damned if she knows anything more than that. She'll remember faces, maybe some different things they'd all done with each other, at a long stretch maybe words or phrases corresponding to them, but she won't know a thing else, names, relations to her, anything past their faces...that's all she'll have."

"So, she will know to be sad at certain times, know that the faces in her head look like ours, and believe what she's being told continually about Clare, and that will be all that is left?" Skayr had a look somewhere between disbelief and sympathetic on her face. Bobby nodded,

"I think our resident bitch planned it like that. She wants Azuril to keep on suffering, even if she doesn't know why it makes her hurt."

"I'll rip her heart out myself, then." Skayr said, "I owe her my own vengeance and pay back for my friend as well."

"I think Azuril will like that." Bobby said, Pardoner mewed several times, seemingly in agreement. At the front of the group, Azuril was watching the ground as she walked, she still felt ashamed of herself for what she'd done the night before. To her, it was getting to the point where she was unknowingly following an old rule of hers, crying was a weakness never to be shown.

"You ok?" Damien asked her quietly, she shuts her eyes for a second, then looked at him,

"fine. I am fine. Just-"

"tired?" he finished for her, giving her a skeptical look, "you say that every time anyone ever asks you that. What's really wrong? If you're tired, we can stop for a bit. But you're just using it as an escape, aren't you?" he stopped walking, turning to look at her fully, she stopped as well, looking at him, "I thought we were done with escapes and fake trails. What's wrong?" she lowers her gaze right away, he sighed, reaching out towards her, "I want you to be able to tell me. Please." she leaned against him, glad for the contact, the comfort.

"I can't remember." she said, he looked down at her with a confused look on his face,

"what?"

"I don't remember who I was. I know I had a life before this, but I'm starting to forget it, Damien. I'm starting to forget who I am..." she truly sounded tired this time, "did I ever tell you who I was? Can you remind me? Damien?" he kept staring

uh-oh. "yes. You told us all a bit of it, once. But it was pointless to remember. I don't know the person you were at all, how she acted, what seemed to make her happy, what or who she loved, hated, or anything else about her. I only got a name. And I didn't care to log it away. I only remember you as you, not her." he held onto her for a second, "I don't want to know her, I want to know you. So, maybe, it's better if she rests in peace. Forget her for now."

"Yes, Damien. As you wish." she said quietly, still wondering as to who she had been, but, if she wasn't important enough for Damien to remember, then she was to be left alone. She started walking again, catching up to Damien quickly, she'd forget the past soon. She knew that. But, she'd remember what truly mattered to her. She would always know what was important to her, the things that really mattered to her. Things like her friends, new and old, things like her new life, things like Damien.

"_What day is it - and in what month  
This clock never seemed so alive  
I can't keep up and I can't back down  
I've been losing so much time_

'Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do  
Nothing to lose  
And it's you and me and all of the people  
And I don't know why  
I can't keep my eyes off of you

All of the things that I want to say just aren't coming out right  
I'm tripping on words  
You've got my head spinning  
I don't know where to go from here

'Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do  
Nothing to prove  
And it's you and me and all of the people  
And I don't know why  
I can't keep my eyes off of you

There's something about you now  
I can't quite figure out  
Everything she does is beautiful  
Everything she does is right

'Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do  
Nothing to lose  
And it's you and me and all of the people  
And I don't know why  
I can't keep my eyes off of you  
and me and all of the people with nothing to do  
Nothing to prove  
And it's you and me and all of the peopleAnd I don't know why  
I can't keep my eyes off of you

What day is it  
And in what month  
This clock never seemed so alive"

---

Lifehouse; _You and Me_; (lost the CD case, not sure, think it's just called 'Lifehouse')


End file.
